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MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Reports and reaction from the 2011-2012 season as Walsall finished 19th in League 1
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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 4:52 pm

Have to say I was impressed with the ground, probably the cleanest I've been to too.

Absolute dire home support though. Didnt hear anything from them all game, only the occasional drum beat. SSN says they were booed off too, fickle barstewards!

Long journey back wasnt as bad as it could have been, ended up on the bus home from preston with a few Carlisle fans i know who had been beaten at Oldham! :)
Knackered though, was at work at half 6 saturday morning, didnt get home till quarter to 11 at night after the match.

Onwards and upwards.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 4:55 pm

Match report?

We won. Grigg scored. We wer ebetter team. Dongs fans were mute.

Other than that I drank beer.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 6:57 pm

Very solid, professional performance from us and we looked very comfortable in keeping them at bay. Walker never had a save to make, yet we missed a couple of really good chances (Nicholls' was an absolute sitter) and a better final ball could have seen us score three or four. We basically let them have the ball to see if they could play through us. They didn't.

Nobody had a bad game, although I thought Nicholls and Paterson were a bit wasteful with the ball at times. Chambers and Mantom had Smith and Potter shackled for most of the afternoon, whilst the whole back four were just a brick wall. Ledesma could have done better in front of goal, but the sorts of positions he gets himself into are too hot for most sides at this level to handle. MK Dons resorted to cynical fouls to try stopping him yesterday - not the first time we've seen an opposition resort to that.

It just goes to show what a difference pressure and confidence make. A neutral would have thought we were closer to the top of the league than the bottom.

Our fans were great yesterday, but theirs were truly embarassing. If you can't get excited with your side potentially 2 games from Wembley and 3 from promotionk, when can you? That said, Huddersfield will rip them to shreds if they play like that in the week.

As for the comments about the ground being clean, a certain part of the away end was left in a bit of a state by the kid who spent the first half asleep before using the half time break to puke up the morning's drinking session. Nice. :D

Great away day overall.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 7:06 pm

WFC_Rob wrote:As for the comments about the ground being clean, a certain part of the away end was left in a bit of a state by the kid who spent the first half asleep before using the half time break to puke up the morning's drinking session. Nice. :D


I walked down the steps just after he'd puked. I'm not sure the bloke in front of him realised that half of it was over the back of his legs :shock: :D

How the hell did he get in the ground when a well known supporter was denied access for "being drunk"? He looked fine at Bletchley station afterwards.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 7:07 pm

aaaæ™ wrote:
geoffwhiting wrote:An unlikely result on paper, but every win against the plastic club is always extremely satisfying, maybe THE most satisfying win of the season, even more so as it's ensured they have to play their home leg first in the play-offs. Now I hope Huddersfield knock them out and SheffU do the same to Stevenage (so it's an MKD vs Stevenage play-off final I guess). :?

Still, at least Stevenage spoiled any party for Lee Hughes at NottsC. :lol:

Give me Notts County over Stevenage any day.

And we owe 'em for turning over Wycombe for us to give us a nice final day :D

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 7:14 pm

tinned wrote:
WFC_Rob wrote:As for the comments about the ground being clean, a certain part of the away end was left in a bit of a state by the kid who spent the first half asleep before using the half time break to puke up the morning's drinking session. Nice. :D


I walked down the steps just after he'd puked. I'm not sure the bloke in front of him realised that half of it was over the back of his legs :shock: :D

How the hell did he get in the ground when a well known supporter was denied access for "being drunk"? He looked fine at Bletchley station afterwards.

My brother was sat in the seat next to him for the whole of the first half. I can't tell you how lucky he felt at half time, having dodged that one. :lol:

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 7:43 pm

And for those who missed Friday's story on BBC Sport, it reads even better with hindsight. :lol:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17955396

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 7:58 pm

:lol: Scouse ****!

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 9:06 pm

I must have been seeing a different game to everyone else. Perhaps I was harsh.

Thought they were terrible (did they have a shot on target) and we were average. If we'd hit top gear we'd have definetely stuck 4 or 5 past them as they were clearly seeing it as a training game before the play offs (as I suspect we'd do). Thought the back 4 as 9 times out of 10 this season were excellent. Chambers showed me yesterday that at times with Cuvelier and Mantom as a partnership in midfield the back 4 had no protection, he tackled well and I dont remember a pass of his that went astray.

Nicholls miss was embarassing but otherwise he put in a good display. Thought Smith and Butler were excellent, Smith in particular didnt lose a header. The only downside to the afternoon for me was Ledesma. Get him against a defence that give him no space and he resorts to persistant diving. Barely touched the ball yesterday and we he did, it didnt go to well - he also missed a sitter alone in there box from about 8 yards early in the first half. Grigg was ok, nice goal, but it told how we certainly upped it again when Macken came on, the ball just sticks to him much better.

You have to wonder if we saw the team of next season yesterday, I think Smith may have been giving us an in-sight to his plans for next season, purely with the 11 he started. Macken, Hurst, Westlake and Peterlin all missing. Grigg, Paterson and Chambers on the pitch. Think Smith may have been trying out a new 11 yesterday with the above players all included in his plans.

Can't help but feel a little sorry for Macken. Great bloke, works hard and all our better performances come when he's on the pitch, but he and his legs are tiring now. If he took a pay cut, id be tempted to keep him as an experienced back to goal sub late in games when were holding on, or looking like needing some respite upfront. Hurst is in the same column for me. Judging by his twitter, a thoroughly nice and sensible man that is bothered about his performances - but just gone off the boil at the wrong end of the season and has a lack of pace. Does have 2 feet though and has a classy ball on him at times, think he'l find another club.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 9:37 pm

Was Hurst ever on the boil ? Nothing against him as a person, but he is desperately short on quality.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 9:56 pm

Blazing_Saddler wrote:Was Hurst ever on the boil ? Nothing against him as a person, but he is desperately short on quality.

Agreed. Neat and tidy, but I've never seen a defender given the runaround by him. Also, if he did have two feet, he wouldn't have kept switching the ball onto his right foot after he came on yesterday.

Credit where it's due, he did score a very important goal out of nothing against Wycombe, but hasn't done enough to earn another year's contract.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Sun May 06, 2012 11:22 pm

Sadders wrote:Thought they were terrible (did they have a shot on target) and we were average. If we'd hit top gear we'd have definitely stuck 4 or 5 past them as they were clearly seeing it as a training game before the play offs (as I suspect we'd do). Thought the back 4 as 9 times out of 10 this season were excellent. Chambers showed me yesterday that at times with Cuvelier and Mantom as a partnership in midfield the back 4 had no protection, he tackled well and I don't remember a pass of his that went astray.

Nicholls miss was embarrassing but otherwise he put in a good display. Thought Smith and Butler were excellent, Smith in particular didn't lose a header. The only downside to the afternoon for me was Ledesma. Get him against a defence that give him no space and he resorts to persistent diving. Barely touched the ball yesterday and we he did, it didn't go to well - he also missed a sitter alone in their box from about 8 yards early in the first half. Grigg was ok, nice goal, but it told how we certainly upped it again when Macken came on, the ball just sticks to him much better.

You have to wonder if we saw the team of next season yesterday, I think Smith may have been giving us an insight into his plans for next season, purely with the 11 he started. Macken, Hurst, Westlake and Peterlin all missing. Grigg, Paterson and Chambers on the pitch. Think Smith may have been trying out a new 11 yesterday with the above players all included in his plans.

Can't help but feel a little sorry for Macken. Great bloke, works hard and all our better performances come when he's on the pitch, but he and his legs are tiring now. If he took a pay cut, id be tempted to keep him as an experienced back to goal sub late in games when were holding on, or looking like needing some respite upfront. Hurst is in the same column for me. Judging by his twitter, a thoroughly nice and sensible man that is bothered about his performances - but just gone off the boil at the wrong end of the season and has a lack of pace. Does have 2 feet though and has a classy ball on him at times, think he'll find another club.

Agree with most of that.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 12:13 am

tinned wrote:How the hell did he get in the ground when a well known supporter was denied access for "being drunk"? He looked fine at Bletchley station afterwards.


MK stewards piss poor as usual.
My dad was almost refused entry after having 2 pints by a condescending prat of a steward.
There was a steward in one of the concourse bars having a chat with Saddlers fans who seemed really surprised at the fancy dress and was asking if it was done every last away game. He was also going on about him preferring to be in the away end because of the variety of songs.
Even 9 years after forming they seem to have zero clue about how football crowds work.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 12:30 am

Were barclays last time but it seemed even more extreme at times on Saturday, need to chill the fudge out and let us get on with it. Football fans drink, shock horror. Miserable, j0bsworth scroats.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 4:10 pm

Chambers looked so much better alongside a decent midfield partner. Some right crunching tackles and when in possession he just did the simple things well. I think we were all disappointed with him earlier in the season, but the bloke was walking with a stoop due to carrying Taundry/Peterlin for six months. On Saturday he looked fantastic simply because he had some quality and energy alongside him.

Of course, the sad thing about how well we played on Saturday (and as others have said it could/should have been three or four) is that I've got this twinge of optimism about next season. Will I ever learn?

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 4:29 pm

Sadders wrote:The only downside to the afternoon for me was Ledesma. Get him against a defence that give him no space and he resorts to persistant diving. Barely touched the ball yesterday and we he did, it didnt go to well - he also missed a sitter alone in there box from about 8 yards early in the first half.

Didn't pick up on this comment yesterday but have just watched the BBC highlights and my God, we've got high standards if we're having a pop at Ledesma for his performance.

Of the 14 attempts we had on goal, he must have been at the heart of 8-10 of them. For someone who 'barely touched the ball', that's pretty miraculous. He sees things no-one else does, and does things with the ball that no-one else in our squad can do. I'd sacrifice three of the current bunch to sign him up for next season, no question.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 4:44 pm

WFC_Rob wrote:
Sadders wrote:The only downside to the afternoon for me was Ledesma. Get him against a defence that give him no space and he resorts to persistant diving. Barely touched the ball yesterday and we he did, it didnt go to well - he also missed a sitter alone in there box from about 8 yards early in the first half.

Didn't pick up on this comment yesterday but have just watched the BBC highlights and my God, we've got high standards if we're having a pop at Ledesma for his performance.

Of the 14 attempts we had on goal, he must have been at the heart of 8-10 of them. For someone who 'barely touched the ball', that's pretty miraculous. He sees things no-one else does, and does things with the ball that no-one else in our squad can do. I'd sacrifice three of the current bunch to sign him up for next season, no question.


I agree. I was worried about his discipline when he came back, but needn't have. He finds space and occupies defenders thereby creating space for others too. His pass to Macken in the build up to the Nicholls chance was sublime. I don't know if it's in the highlights you mention, but when I think of great passers of the ball over the decades at any level, there isn't a player who wouldn't have been proud of that pass.

The only worry I have is that in recent weeks I have seen him get quite frustrated with team-mates and the fact that he is obviously a class above them. First time I noticed it was at Rochdale when he played a super fifty yard pass to Hurst who's first touch came half way back to him. Since then I've seen it several times and it tends to be followed by him trying to do it all by himself for a few minutes.

But if I could, I'd have him in my team all day long and agree, he was fantastic on Saturday.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 5:02 pm

PT wrote:His pass to Macken in the build up to the Nicholls chance was sublime. I don't know if it's in the highlights you mention, but when I think of great passers of the ball over the decades at any level, there isn't a player who wouldn't have been proud of that pass.

Yep - and it looks better the more times you watch it.

Whilst Grigg did have the defender falling over to thank for the space allowed for his goal, it was Ledesma's well-weighted ball that left him one on one with that defender in the first place. He's just got that instinct to hurt teams in their half of the pitch.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 5:11 pm

I agree about Ladesma.The wages of 3/4 dead beats should be used to secure his services for another 2 years at least.

If we are to become a one man team then fine.Argentina won the world cup with a one man team.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 5:19 pm

PT wrote:
Of course, the sad thing about how well we played on Saturday (and as others have said it could/should have been three or four) is that I've got this twinge of optimism about next season. Will I ever learn?


Or as could be applied to following the Saddlers ...from John Cleese in Clockwise


“It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."

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MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 6:19 pm

Fray Bentos is God! wrote:I got drunk, but the main points were:

1. We were good.

2. Grigg's goal was great.

3. We could have scored 3 or 4.

4. After watching Hudds and MK in successive weeks, put your money on Hudds.

5. The MK fans make about as much noise as a door mouse with a cough.

6. Becks is fantastic.


Becks went down quicker than an Italian cruise ship!!

I'm Ron burgundy you stay classy San diego!

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 6:34 pm

Did I miss anything?

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Mon May 07, 2012 10:16 pm

This was a truly great day!

A great, great away day! :D

The Stadium MK and Stadium MK fans are both absolutely lifeless and plastic. Totally soul-less and without any kind of passion whatsobloodyever. Shocking.

Luckily, the travelling Saddlers injected more life and atmosphere than they could produce in 1000 years. :D

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Tue May 08, 2012 12:04 pm

WFC_Rob wrote:
Sadders wrote:The only downside to the afternoon for me was Ledesma. Get him against a defence that give him no space and he resorts to persistant diving. Barely touched the ball yesterday and we he did, it didnt go to well - he also missed a sitter alone in there box from about 8 yards early in the first half.

Didn't pick up on this comment yesterday but have just watched the BBC highlights and my God, we've got high standards if we're having a pop at Ledesma for his performance.

Of the 14 attempts we had on goal, he must have been at the heart of 8-10 of them. For someone who 'barely touched the ball', that's pretty miraculous. He sees things no-one else does, and does things with the ball that no-one else in our squad can do. I'd sacrifice three of the current bunch to sign him up for next season, no question.

For our level he has X factor and can win games for us. How many of the players we've watched over the last 5 years have that?

Sometimes he may not deliver, but we've got 10 other huffers & puffers to cover for him on those occasions. I'd be shocked if he signed for us though.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Tue May 08, 2012 12:36 pm

aaaæ™ wrote:
WFC_Rob wrote:
Sadders wrote:The only downside to the afternoon for me was Ledesma. Get him against a defence that give him no space and he resorts to persistant diving. Barely touched the ball yesterday and we he did, it didnt go to well - he also missed a sitter alone in there box from about 8 yards early in the first half.

Didn't pick up on this comment yesterday but have just watched the BBC highlights and my God, we've got high standards if we're having a pop at Ledesma for his performance.

Of the 14 attempts we had on goal, he must have been at the heart of 8-10 of them. For someone who 'barely touched the ball', that's pretty miraculous. He sees things no-one else does, and does things with the ball that no-one else in our squad can do. I'd sacrifice three of the current bunch to sign him up for next season, no question.

For our level he has X factor and can win games for us. How many of the players we've watched over the last 5 years have that?

Sometimes he may not deliver, but we've got 10 other huffers & puffers to cover for him on those occasions. I'd be shocked if he signed for us though.

I agree, but at least give him something to think about by offering him the top deal at the club. If a Championship side come in for him then so be it, but he obviously doesn't mind playing for us that much or he wouldn't have come back for a second spell.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Tue May 08, 2012 3:19 pm

good match should have got more than one but who cares we are staying up but i hope we wont be in a relegation fight for the third year running!!!

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Tue May 08, 2012 11:59 pm

SaddlerSteve wrote:
honest_john wrote:Great way to end the season considering the circumstances.How many did we take?


I reckon between 1000 and 1500.

The MK Dongers stands were pretty sparse.

Had to laugh when their players came back out and there were only a few hundred of their plastic fans left in the stadium! :lol:

1212 to be exact. Great atmosphere from our fans, especially compared to the home 'support'.

I really do dislike that club and their so-called fans, and the fact that they booed their players off despite having reached the play-offs and failed to show their support when the players came back out just confirmed why.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Wed May 09, 2012 10:43 am

bescot42 wrote:
SaddlerSteve wrote:
honest_john wrote:Great way to end the season considering the circumstances.How many did we take?


I reckon between 1000 and 1500.

The MK Dongers stands were pretty sparse.

Had to laugh when their players came back out and there were only a few hundred of their plastic fans left in the stadium! :lol:

1212 to be exact. Great atmosphere from our fans, especially compared to the home 'support'.

I really do dislike that club and their so-called fans, and the fact that they booed their players off despite having reached the play-offs and failed to show their support when the players came back out just confirmed why.


Agreed. Hope Uddersfield slaughter them in play offs. I dread to think how much they will get booed if they don't get a good result at home in 1st leg and I wonder how many Dongs will go to second leg if they lose on Saturday? Pathetic

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Wed May 09, 2012 12:43 pm

Had a mooch on their forum and they're worried about not breaking the 800 barrier for the away leg, awful, we'd take over a thousand for sure.

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Re: MK Dons (A) League 1 Saturday 5/5/12.

Wed May 09, 2012 1:59 pm

Darth Vader wrote:Had a mooch on their forum and they're worried about not breaking the 800 barrier for the away leg, awful, we'd take over a thousand for sure.


In the play offs? Try 3000.

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