Milton Keynes Dons (A) League One, Sat 2 Nov 3pm

[Graydon48]

what the hell was odonell doing again went for a ball he had not right to go for and missed everyhting and everyone and set the wall up rong, he is starting to single handidly risk us points every game.

This is getting ridiculous now.

How can you criticize a goalkeeper for a free kick so well placed that it went in off the post, boggles the mind.

in my opinion he set the wall up wrong, he came for a ball again yesterday and got no were near it, if he would have clattered bamford its a penalty all day, wich his poor decision making and poor communication and command of your area, the free kick was well placed but it was floated hardly had any zip on it.
he gave leyton orient the goal fact, he gave stevenage there goal, he pushed the ball into the strikers path against cov instead of pushing it wide, he never moved off his line for the swindon goal when he should have taken the ball. his decision making is poor!!!!
wich is the point i am trying to make he is going to cost us. that being said i think he has potential to be a good keeper.

mind boggles doesnt it

:roll:

The goal from the fee kick was the keepers fault. It's his job to set up the wall. From where I was sat you could see a huge gap to the left of the wall all there guy had to do was make sure he hit it to the left of the wall no swerve no up and over. Job done.

[JonnyOwen]

what the hell was odonell doing again went for a ball he had not right to go for and missed everyhting and everyone and set the wall up rong, he is starting to single handidly risk us points every game.

This is getting ridiculous now.

How can you criticize a goalkeeper for a free kick so well placed that it went in off the post, boggles the mind.

in my opinion he set the wall up wrong, he came for a ball again yesterday and got no were near it, if he would have clattered bamford its a penalty all day, wich his poor decision making and poor communication and command of your area, the free kick was well placed but it was floated hardly had any zip on it.
he gave leyton orient the goal fact, he gave stevenage there goal, he pushed the ball into the strikers path against cov instead of pushing it wide, he never moved off his line for the swindon goal when he should have taken the ball. his decision making is poor!!!!
wich is the point i am trying to make he is going to cost us. that being said i think he has potential to be a good keeper.

mind boggles doesnt it

:roll:

The goal from the fee kick was the keepers fault. It's his job to set up the wall. From where I was sat you could see a huge gap to the left of the wall all there guy had to do was make sure he hit it to the left of the wall no swerve no up and over. Job done.

..and it's his fault they jumped early?

[SWS1]

How I saw the game.

http://www.thesportsplanet.net/blog/mk- ... -saddlers/

So, the consensus is that the referee was a complete Donalding Berkley (Hunt), including neutral observers. Thanks, Ref, you Berkley Hunt. Donald off back to where you came from and don't darken any of our games again.

There. I feel better for that (but not much).
Eartha!
:cry:

[Fish]

How I saw the game.

http://www.thesportsplanet.net/blog/mk- ... -saddlers/

So, the consensus is that the referee was a complete Donalding Berkley (Hunt), including neutral observers. Thanks, Ref, you Berkley Hunt. Donald off back to where you came from and don't darken any of our games again.

There. I feel better for that (but not much).
Eartha!
:cry:

Have you got a translation for that?

[Cully]

Most of the things you have listed are either in the future or supposition so you don't know any more than the rest of us then unless you're desperate to tow Bonser's party line. Therefore I'll assume that there is some money available and we should spend it on a striker and not a centre half to replace Butler who I believe is being groomed for the role of centre forward.

The things I listed are facts rather than supposition. The supposition lies in the exact amounts that some of those things cost. We know the extra police bill, we know the indebtedness to Directors. We don't know the difference between Hewitt, Sawyers and lalkovic's wages versus Grigg, Paterson and Brandy and we don't know what enhanced terms for Smith, Downing and Baxendale look like.

I don't know what Bonser's party line is as he hasn't communicated with us other than the bland stuff in the club accounts for around 3 years. If it is a continuation of us not spending money don't have then that is frustrating but it has been that way forever. I still think that his last decade has seen him do lasting damage to our fan base and would support any viable alternative as his mere presence is divisive . There just aren't too many of those knocking around.

Butler being groomed for centre-forward - at the risk of being whooshed - I'd say that Butler up front is an in match Plan C (after we've done the Featherstone/sawyers and winger(s) for lalkovic/Gray things on the 60 and 70 minute mark respectively - not saying Smith's subs are formulaic but you can set your watch by them!).

So you're still having a guess just like me and my guess is that there is money available.

Butler.....................oh dear, words fail me, I never realised that I could be so convincing but I'll let you off because I can. Good luck with my next post.

[PT]

Most of the things you have listed are either in the future or supposition so you don't know any more than the rest of us then unless you're desperate to tow Bonser's party line. Therefore I'll assume that there is some money available and we should spend it on a striker and not a centre half to replace Butler who I believe is being groomed for the role of centre forward.

The things I listed are facts rather than supposition. The supposition lies in the exact amounts that some of those things cost. We know the extra police bill, we know the indebtedness to Directors. We don't know the difference between Hewitt, Sawyers and lalkovic's wages versus Grigg, Paterson and Brandy and we don't know what enhanced terms for Smith, Downing and Baxendale look like.

I don't know what Bonser's party line is as he hasn't communicated with us other than the bland stuff in the club accounts for around 3 years. If it is a continuation of us not spending money don't have then that is frustrating but it has been that way forever. I still think that his last decade has seen him do lasting damage to our fan base and would support any viable alternative as his mere presence is divisive . There just aren't too many of those knocking around.

Butler being groomed for centre-forward - at the risk of being whooshed - I'd say that Butler up front is an in match Plan C (after we've done the Featherstone/sawyers and winger(s) for lalkovic/Gray things on the 60 and 70 minute mark respectively - not saying Smith's subs are formulaic but you can set your watch by them!).

So you're still having a guess just like me and my guess is that there is money available.

Butler.....................oh dear, words fail me, I never realised that I could be so convincing but I'll let you off because I can. Good luck with my next post.

I did say "at the risk of bring whooshed" but yes - I shall now remove the hook from the inside of my cheek.

I hope you're right on the money too.

[SWS1]

How I saw the game.

http://www.thesportsplanet.net/blog/mk- ... -saddlers/

So, the consensus is that the referee was a complete Donalding Berkley (Hunt), including neutral observers. Thanks, Ref, you Berkley Hunt. Donald off back to where you came from and don't darken any of our games again.

There. I feel better for that (but not much).
Eartha!
:cry:

Have you got a translation for that?

It's ALL rhyming slang.... :lol:
Try saying this tongue twister quickly and it'll give you a clue.

Mrs Hunt had a rough cut punt; not a punt cut rough, but a rough cut punt.
:shock:

[OWEN1955]

what the hell was odonell doing again went for a ball he had not right to go for and missed everyhting and everyone and set the wall up rong, he is starting to single handidly risk us points every game.

The life of a keeper eh, He comes for the ball gets nowhere near it and gets slated, stays on his line and concedes and gets slated. What i will say is and it's something i have mentioned on here before is that he needs to be a bit more physically imposing and needs to come and start taking man and ball rattling a few forwards when he comes to punch/clear/catch they might not be so keen to mix it with him then and would make his life easier.

Having watched the goal over and over my opinion is that it shouldn't have been a free kick anyway and as before the wall jumped too early which allowed the ball to get through.

[JonnyOwen]

what the hell was odonell doing again went for a ball he had not right to go for and missed everyhting and everyone and set the wall up rong, he is starting to single handidly risk us points every game.

The life of a keeper eh, He comes for the ball gets nowhere near it and gets slated, stays on his line and concedes and gets slated. What i will say is and it's something i have mentioned on here before is that he needs to be a bit more physically imposing and needs to come and start taking man and ball rattling a few forwards when he comes to punch/clear/catch they might not be so keen to mix it with him then and would make his life easier.

Having watched the goal over and over my opinion is that it shouldn't have been a free kick anyway and as before the wall jumped too early which allowed the ball to get through.

This is the main problem I have with a lot of Walsall fans. It seems that certain players are picked on and slated constantly by certain fans, everything being their fault and being about how they could of done better. Whereas, other players seem to be infallible and are never at fault for goals. Certain players just get slated so damn relentlessly, being blamed and nitpicked on for every problem in the team and it's game.

[OWEN1955]

what the hell was odonell doing again went for a ball he had not right to go for and missed everyhting and everyone and set the wall up rong, he is starting to single handidly risk us points every game.

The life of a keeper eh, He comes for the ball gets nowhere near it and gets slated, stays on his line and concedes and gets slated. What i will say is and it's something i have mentioned on here before is that he needs to be a bit more physically imposing and needs to come and start taking man and ball rattling a few forwards when he comes to punch/clear/catch they might not be so keen to mix it with him then and would make his life easier.

Having watched the goal over and over my opinion is that it shouldn't have been a free kick anyway and as before the wall jumped too early which allowed the ball to get through.

This is the main problem I have with a lot of Walsall fans. It seems that certain players are picked on and slated constantly by certain fans, everything being their fault and being about how they could of done better. Whereas, other players seem to be infallible and are never at fault for goals. Certain players just get slated so damn relentlessly, being blamed and nitpicked on for every problem in the team and it's game.

Its the same everywhere mate certain players just get slated no matter what they do, i noticed that when we played wolves etc there was nobody slagging him off, he has kept us in quite a few games this season but this is forgotten as soon as we loose a couple of games. he will improve as the season goes on we are an a lot better position than last year with different keepers that people thought were the bees knees so let's just get at the back of all the players and stop booing them and slating them on here.

[jamesrdme]

The goalkeeper is substandard.He has been responsible for several goals.You only have to look at the number of teams he has played for to comprehend his ability.Chesterfield was the last! As far as the striker position is concerned, it is obvious that you cannot replace a 46 goal trio with nothing.Has it been considered that Bonser does not want the playoffs or the possibility of promotion because of the massive increase in wages which would follow.

[Exile]

How I saw the game.

http://www.thesportsplanet.net/blog/mk- ... -saddlers/

So, the consensus is that the referee was a complete Donalding Berkley (Hunt), including neutral observers. Thanks, Ref, you Berkley Hunt. Donald off back to where you came from and don't darken any of our games again.

There. I feel better for that (but not much).
Eartha!
:cry:

Have you got a translation for that?

Go to user control panel and turn the word filter off!

[JonnyOwen]

The goalkeeper is substandard.He has been responsible for several goals.You only have to look at the number of teams he has played for to comprehend his ability.Chesterfield was the last! As far as the striker position is concerned, it is obvious that you cannot replace a 46 goal trio with nothing.Has it been considered that Bonser does not want the playoffs or the possibility of promotion because of the massive increase in wages which would follow.

What a ridiculous comment, when you look at the previous history of most of our players, this comment gets more and more obnoxious.

[Ancient Moaner]

We have to seriously stop slating certain players in the squad, the problem is sooo obvious, only the management cannot realise that scoring goals (or not doing at present) is our major priority....when you consider that only 7 teams in our division have scored fewer goals than us!

Towards the end of last season we had an attack which was a pleasure to watch, goals came easily and we feared no one! This season we have a squad that plays reasonable tippy tappy footy (sideways & backwards that is) but we are firing blank rounds of ammo, other teams have sussed us out, and hit us with killer sucker punches whilst we continue our flowery 'sexy football' to no avail. I'm glad that many on here now appear to agree, the problem is will 'the management'?

[WFC_Rob]

Towards the end of last season we had an attack which was a pleasure to watch, goals came easily and we feared no one! This season we have a squad that plays reasonable tippy tappy footy (sideways & backwards that is) but we are firing blank rounds of ammo, other teams have sussed us out, and hit us with killer sucker punches whilst we continue our flowery 'sexy football' to no avail. I'm glad that many on here now appear to agree, the problem is will 'the management'?

Not sure about everyone else, but I disagree with most of that.

Since when have we shown fear this season? We've already played seven of the eight teams above us and have taken four points from our away games against both of the top two - that's hardly a sign that this team goes into games scared and paying the opposition too much respect.

I don't disagree with your sentiments that we sometimes lack a killer instinct in the final third, but as we were this time last year, we're something of a work in progress by virtue of the fact our attacking players are generally different to the ones who ended last season. Nailing my colours to the mast, I think we'll have to bring a striker in if we're to make the top six, but that's not to say we'll have a bad season without one.

As for your comments about tippy tappy sideways and backwards football, it was quite the opposite at Swindon, and the same at Orient with a player less. Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and accept that we will get beat on the odd occasion because of the way we play. I'm assuming you'd rather we didn't revert back to the playing style we had during the Macken, Jarvis, Hurst & Peterlin chapter though?

[OWEN1955]

The goalkeeper is substandard.He has been responsible for several goals.You only have to look at the number of teams he has played for to comprehend his ability.Chesterfield was the last! As far as the striker position is concerned, it is obvious that you cannot replace a 46 goal trio with nothing.Has it been considered that Bonser does not want the playoffs or the possibility of promotion because of the massive increase in wages which would follow.

What a load of tosh, I have a friend who is a Chesterfield fan and when Tommy lee was out he played 14 games for them and kept more clean sheets than Tommy lee did . he also played 15 games for Sheffield wednesday as unstudy to Weaver when he was injured so he has the experience so how you can say he is substandard is a mystery to me. I think if we put joe HArt in the net people like you would find something to complain about , he is the England and man city First choice but still makes errors so get off his back for a bit .All he needs is a run of games this season and we will see whos right at the end of the season.

[Sadders]

Towards the end of last season we had an attack which was a pleasure to watch, goals came easily and we feared no one! This season we have a squad that plays reasonable tippy tappy footy (sideways & backwards that is) but we are firing blank rounds of ammo, other teams have sussed us out, and hit us with killer sucker punches whilst we continue our flowery 'sexy football' to no avail. I'm glad that many on here now appear to agree, the problem is will 'the management'?

Not sure about everyone else, but I disagree with most of that.

Since when have we shown fear this season? We've already played seven of the eight teams above us and have taken four points from our away games against both of the top two - that's hardly a sign that this team goes into games scared and paying the opposition too much respect.

I don't disagree with your sentiments that we sometimes lack a killer instinct in the final third, but as we were this time last year, we're something of a work in progress by virtue of the fact our attacking players are generally different to the ones who ended last season. Nailing my colours to the mast, I think we'll have to bring a striker in if we're to make the top six, but that's not to say we'll have a bad season without one.

As for your comments about tippy tappy sideways and backwards football, it was quite the opposite at Swindon, and the same at Orient with a player less. Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and accept that we will get beat on the odd occasion because of the way we play. I'm assuming you'd rather we didn't revert back to the playing style we had during the Macken, Jarvis, Hurst & Peterlin chapter though?

Agree with your principle, but I think putting Macken in that trio is wrong. We needed a Macken/Grigg on Saturday as Westcarr couldn't hold wind, never mind retain possession of a football long enough to allow wingers to get forward. I'm not saying I'd like to hoof it, far from it - but we could play the way we do and have a bit of muscle upfront to help retain the ball, providing it's given to feet. I'd definetely take Macken back at the age we had him and play him up top with our tippy tappy style, it would help our midfield out. There was about 10 times in the second half at Dons where Hemmings had the ball in a wide position 40 yards out and all of our attackers were standing in a static line across the pitch, he had nobody to pass forward to or aim for and that's the issue, we no stand out, no focal point and no real striker. It sounds like we are 24th and haven't scored in 10 games, that's not true - but my point is we are so close to being a top 6 side that it's frustrating.

We created 3 late half chances in the second half on Saturday, all came from Butler - which says it all about some height, presence and muscle.

I sometimes feel as though this team sets up not to lose, or think they are guaranteed a cleansheet every week. As I said after 60 minutes on Saturday, we won't keep cleansheets in every away game and yet the opposition can't be worried about our attack either. If you were to name our two best players so far this season? - Butler and Taylor, centre back and left back. Which says it all IMO.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

AM talking utter garbage based on BBC stats... Who'd a thunk it?

[tinned]

So why haven't we sourced a suitable striker so far?

Is it that Smith honestly feels we aren't in need of one?

Has Smith painted himself into a corner with his previous claims of us being fine in the striking department>

Has Ebeneezer Bonser hidden the chequebook again?

Whatever is the reason, one thing is plain as day, we need something fresh up front otherwise a possible great season could fizzle out into an acceptable one.

[NEWPORT SADDLERS DAD]

So why haven't we sourced a suitable striker so far?

Is it that Smith honestly feels we aren't in need of one?

Has Smith painted himself into a corner with his previous claims of us being fine in the striking department>

Has Ebeneezer Bonser hidden the chequebook again?

Whatever is the reason, one thing is plain as day, we need something fresh up front otherwise a possible great season could fizzle out into an acceptable one.

Point No 4 for me.
When he was hiding the Chequebook he came across the paying in book.

[Ancient Moaner]

AM talking utter garbage based on BBC stats... Who'd a thunk it?

Do you REALLY need to be so offensive my friend, or is it in your nature? When you have watched Walsall for 50 years, you do tend to have a little respect for other supporters opinions, I'm just stating mine..those that know me also know that my
heart and sole are with my beloved Saddlers, just because I live 120 miles away and can't get to as many matches as I would like, does not mean that I have any less of an undying love for my team...I would just like a little bit more success to come our way, wouldn't you? :)

[4eva in my heart wfc]

what the hell was odonell doing again went for a ball he had not right to go for and missed everyhting and everyone and set the wall up rong, he is starting to single handidly risk us points every game.

The life of a keeper eh, He comes for the ball gets nowhere near it and gets slated, stays on his line and concedes and gets slated. What i will say is and it's something i have mentioned on here before is that he needs to be a bit more physically imposing and needs to come and start taking man and ball rattling a few forwards when he comes to punch/clear/catch they might not be so keen to mix it with him then and would make his life easier.

Having watched the goal over and over my opinion is that it shouldn't have been a free kick anyway and as before the wall jumped too early which allowed the ball to get through.

This is the main problem I have with a lot of Walsall fans. It seems that certain players are picked on and slated constantly by certain fans, everything being their fault and being about how they could of done better. Whereas, other players seem to be infallible and are never at fault for goals. Certain players just get slated so damn relentlessly, being blamed and nitpicked on for every problem in the team and it's game.

Its the same everywhere mate certain players just get slated no matter what they do, i noticed that when we played wolves etc there was nobody slagging him off, he has kept us in quite a few games this season but this is forgotten as soon as we loose a couple of games. he will improve as the season goes on we are an a lot better position than last year with different keepers that people thought were the bees knees so let's just get at the back of all the players and stop booing them and slating them on here.

im not trying to wind you up pal, i dont go to the game and boo our players, ths is a forum for us to give our opinions and i accept you dont agree with mine thats fine.
another person posted about our gk and i thought it was a valid point that he is going to cost us at some stage. i dont want you to think im on some witch hunt against o'donnell i dont think dropping him or bringing in a loan keeper is needed, ive seen the vids on youtube and he obviously trains hard and has a good attitude, ive only missed the colchester game away, so pretty much ive seen a fair bit of our side this season and overall i think he needs to be better at making decisions and commanding his box. he has pulled off some cracking saves at wolves but the best coming away at leyton orient.

you mentioned that other players are not held accountable wich is something i said in a previous post, we should be stopping crosses coming over, quicker to close down etc... all valid points.

as i say im not trying to wind you or bait you in anyway, im sure with cutler he will be more well rounded given time uts

[Fray Bentos is God!]

AM talking utter garbage based on BBC stats... Who'd a thunk it?

Do you REALLY need to be so offensive my friend, or is it in your nature? When you have watched Walsall for 50 years, you do tend to have a little respect for other supporters opinions, I'm just stating mine..those that know me also know that my
heart and sole are with my beloved Saddlers, just because I live 120 miles away and can't get to as many matches as I would like, does not mean that I have any less of an undying love for my team...I would just like a little bit more success to come our way, wouldn't you? :)

I have little respect for opinions borne from about 4 stats whether you started last week or before the war. Whether you live in Pleck or Paraguay. Don't be so precious, because I mentioned nothing about love, did I?

[King Crimson]

AM talking utter garbage based on BBC stats... Who'd a thunk it?

Do you REALLY need to be so offensive my friend, or is it in your nature? When you have watched Walsall for 50 years, you do tend to have a little respect for other supporters opinions, I'm just stating mine..those that know me also know that my
heart and sole are with my beloved Saddlers, just because I live 120 miles away and can't get to as many matches as I would like, does not mean that I have any less of an undying love for my team...I would just like a little bit more success to come our way, wouldn't you? :)

Newsflash: if you don't want to be accused of "talking garbage", don't talk garbage.

[OWEN1955]

what the hell was odonell doing again went for a ball he had not right to go for and missed everyhting and everyone and set the wall up rong, he is starting to single handidly risk us points every game.

The life of a keeper eh, He comes for the ball gets nowhere near it and gets slated, stays on his line and concedes and gets slated. What i will say is and it's something i have mentioned on here before is that he needs to be a bit more physically imposing and needs to come and start taking man and ball rattling a few forwards when he comes to punch/clear/catch they might not be so keen to mix it with him then and would make his life easier.

Having watched the goal over and over my opinion is that it shouldn't have been a free kick anyway and as before the wall jumped too early which allowed the ball to get through.

This is the main problem I have with a lot of Walsall fans. It seems that certain players are picked on and slated constantly by certain fans, everything being their fault and being about how they could of done better. Whereas, other players seem to be infallible and are never at fault for goals. Certain players just get slated so damn relentlessly, being blamed and nitpicked on for every problem in the team and it's game.

Its the same everywhere mate certain players just get slated no matter what they do, i noticed that when we played wolves etc there was nobody slagging him off, he has kept us in quite a few games this season but this is forgotten as soon as we loose a couple of games. he will improve as the season goes on we are an a lot better position than last year with different keepers that people thought were the bees knees so let's just get at the back of all the players and stop booing them and slating them on here.

im not trying to wind you up pal, i dont go to the game and boo our players, ths is a forum for us to give our opinions and i accept you dont agree with mine thats fine.
another person posted about our gk and i thought it was a valid point that he is going to cost us at some stage. i dont want you to think im on some witch hunt against o'donnell i dont think dropping him or bringing in a loan keeper is needed, ive seen the vids on youtube and he obviously trains hard and has a good attitude, ive only missed the colchester game away, so pretty much ive seen a fair bit of our side this season and overall i think he needs to be better at making decisions and commanding his box. he has pulled off some cracking saves at wolves but the best coming away at leyton orient.

you mentioned that other players are not held accountable wich is something i said in a previous post, we should be stopping crosses coming over, quicker to close down etc... all valid points.

as i say im not trying to wind you or bait you in anyway, im sure with cutler he will be more well rounded given time uts

No problems mate, we will have to agree to disagree on this one you are entitled to your opinion as am i. It was interesting that smith has said in his interview that he wouldn't have expected the keeper to get to it as the ball hit the inside of the post. I am sure under cutlers guidance he will turn into a good keeper, he just needs a couple of clean sheets now to build his confidence.

[clawtheolder]

The trouble was why was there only three in the wall at that distance , and why did they jump way before he kicked the ball.

[wfc & chips]

the wall wasn't fit for purpose, which needs addressing. i also feel a keeper puts himself at a disadvantage by covering the far post, as a shot gets to the near post sooner. there isn't time to get across, unlike a shot at the far post, which by definition has further to travel, and spends longer in the air.

[DonningtonSaddler]

the wall wasn't fit for purpose, which needs addressing. i also feel a keeper puts himself at a disadvantage by covering the far post, as a shot gets to the near post sooner. there isn't time to get across, unlike a shot at the far post, which by definition has further to travel, and spends longer in the air.

In those situations I don't know why they don't just stick a defender on the line.

[latviancheese]

the wall wasn't fit for purpose, which needs addressing. i also feel a keeper puts himself at a disadvantage by covering the far post, as a shot gets to the near post sooner. there isn't time to get across, unlike a shot at the far post, which by definition has further to travel, and spends longer in the air.

In those situations I don't know why they don't just stick a defender on the line.

The day football does that is the day i stop watching it. What next? Ten men on the line during corners, why not just get ten men to stand on the goal line anyway? you might win a 0-0. :D

For a start it leaves everyone onside anyway, and the man on the line potentially could impede the keeper.

However, why dont goalkeepers just stand in the middle of the pissing goal?