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Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Reports and reaction from the 2013-2014 season as Walsall finished 13th in League 1
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hullsaddler
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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 7:33 pm

Frustrating. If we are going to be in with a realistic chance of the play-offs that was a game we should have won. Thought we were disappointing in the first half but much brighter in the second. As has been said we need to be able to at least test their keeper rather than provide some exercise for the ball boy behind the stand. My son thought the one that Lalkovic pulled back for Westcarr bobbled a bit as he hit it, not sure myself. But at least we didn't lose as they did have some decent chances to pinch it towards the end. Looking forward to Tues night's game.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 7:36 pm

Wragbyred wrote:
Terradakphil wrote:What's with all the negativity on here today. Remember we are 8th in the league and have just grabbed a decent away point.
Almost exactly one year ago we were on one of our worst runs I can rembember, I was at the ricoh watching us loose 5-1, then going out the cup to a poor conference side
I'm off to sheffield on Tuesday which is very winable let's keep faith, this is one of my favourite seasons as a saddler for a long time and I think under Deano we have come along way.
UTS

There's really only one poster who is being negative.
And his posts seem to have a numerical relationship with the amount of goals we score :roll:


Very true. Lack of goals is an issue but it is for most sides of our level. Build from the back is my footballing motto and this has to be the strongest Walsall defence for years.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 7:44 pm

Meh. Most average team in the world.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 7:52 pm

That was frustrating it was there for the taking and you could see crawley were pleased with the draw.

Top 4 defence

Great possession

Bottom 9 goals for

It is clear where improvements could be made

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:17 pm

Phew, I am glad this sallian fella has appeared! He makes me look like a mildly frustrated sort of bloke.
Seriously, we can all forget the idea of a striker, cus Deano dow think we need one!? :?

Good point today but we should be well into the play off's, however, with a 'goals for' tally equivalent to a relegation team, we will certainly need to get more 'points' to stay in contention! :(

Lets see what happens at Bramhall Lane................UTS

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:19 pm

sallian wrote:
As seeing as there doesn't seem to be much advice rectifying this from the coaches, I will give some:-



5) strike the ball in the centre



A bit of advice ..............don't waste your money trying to get your coaching badges.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:06 pm

Ancient Moaner wrote:Phew, I am glad this sallian fella has appeared! He makes me look like a mildly frustrated sort of bloke.
Seriously, we can all forget the idea of a striker, cus Deano dow think we need one!? :?

Good point today but we should be well into the play off's, however, with a 'goals for' tally equivalent to a relegation team, we will certainly need to get more 'points' to stay in contention! :(

Lets see what happens at Bramhall Lane................UTS


Based on what? Our average attendance? Our budget ?

I get your point obviously without being silly, but I miss having Bernie around to post useless statistics. I'd like him to post the league table this time last season. We will bring players in, on loan, when the time is right. They could be crucial, as for now we are ticking along, nothing spectacular, but take a long hard think about what the previous 4 years had been like before Christmas last year. It's not that bad you know.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:28 pm

We-ARE-Walsall wrote:
Ancient Moaner wrote:Phew, I am glad this sallian fella has appeared! He makes me look like a mildly frustrated sort of bloke.
Seriously, we can all forget the idea of a striker, cus Deano dow think we need one!? :?

Good point today but we should be well into the play off's, however, with a 'goals for' tally equivalent to a relegation team, we will certainly need to get more 'points' to stay in contention! :(

Lets see what happens at Bramhall Lane................UTS


Based on what? Our average attendance? Our budget ?

I get your point obviously without being silly, but I miss having Bernie around to post useless statistics. I'd like him to post the league table this time last season. We will bring players in, on loan, when the time is right. They could be crucial, as for now we are ticking along, nothing spectacular, but take a long hard think about what the previous 4 years had been like before Christmas last year. It's not that bad you know.


Your wish is my command WAW
Table on 24.11.2012 Full Home Away
P W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A GD Pt
1 Tranmere Rovers 20 11 6 3 36 16 5 3 2 18 8 6 3 1 18 8 +20 39
2 Milton Keynes Dons 20 10 6 4 28 14 7 2 1 16 5 3 4 3 12 9 +14 36
3 Doncaster Rovers 19 11 3 5 28 16 4 1 4 11 10 7 2 1 17 6 +12 36
4 Sheffield United 20 9 9 2 26 17 5 5 0 18 10 4 4 2 8 7 +9 36
5 Brentford 20 9 8 3 28 19 7 2 1 18 9 2 6 2 10 10 +9 35
6 Notts County 20 9 7 4 32 20 4 2 4 14 12 5 5 0 18 8 +12 34
7 Stevenage 20 9 7 4 27 27 3 5 2 14 17 6 2 2 13 10 0 34
8 Swindon Town 20 9 5 6 29 17 4 3 3 15 7 5 2 3 14 10 +12 32
9 Crawley Town 20 9 4 7 27 28 5 2 3 17 15 4 2 4 10 13 -1 31
10 Bournemouth 20 7 8 5 34 32 4 5 1 18 11 3 3 4 16 21 +2 29
11 Preston North End 20 7 7 6 31 24 3 5 2 15 8 4 2 4 16 16 +7 28
12 Yeovil Town 20 9 1 10 30 31 4 1 5 12 14 5 0 5 18 17 -1 28
13 Leyton Orient 20 9 1 10 22 23 5 0 5 10 9 4 1 5 12 14 -1 28
14 Crewe Alexandra 20 7 6 7 24 27 5 2 3 12 10 2 4 4 12 17 -3 27
15 Coventry City 20 6 6 8 28 27 2 4 4 13 14 4 2 4 15 13 +1 24
16 Oldham Athletic 19 6 5 8 20 23 3 3 4 11 10 3 2 4 9 13 -3 23
17 Colchester United 20 6 5 9 23 31 4 3 3 14 12 2 2 6 9 19 -8 23
18 Carlisle United 20 6 5 9 26 38 2 2 6 13 25 4 3 3 13 13 -12 23
19 Walsall 20 5 7 8 22 30 2 3 5 12 19 3 4 3 10 11 -8 22
20 Portsmouth 20 5 4 11 25 31 3 1 6 12 13 2 3 5 13 18 -6 19
21 Bury 20 4 7 9 23 33 2 4 4 10 14 2 3 5 13 19 -10 19
22 Shrewsbury Town 20 4 6 10 21 27 4 3 3 13 11 0 3 7 8 16 -6 18
23 Scunthorpe United 20 4 5 11 20 37 1 3 6 10 21 3 2 5 10 16 -17 17
24 Hartlepool United 20 1 6 13 15 37 1 3 6 8 17 0 3 7 7 20 -22 9

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:30 pm

0-0 just isn't good enough against a team we should be beating. The goals have dried up and it's clear we need another striker because Doyle and Griffiths simply aren't cutting it. Over to you Mr Morgan...

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:31 pm

sallian wrote:
SaddlerCrewe wrote:
sallian wrote:
BathSaddler wrote:329 Saddlers in a crowd of 3,296 at Checkatrade.com Stadium.


That's a good turnout, I was going to go but saw the ground was so small I thought I might not fit inside.


You would have warmed the crowd up though.
All that hot air....


No I stay more quiet in in the actual games I attend, unless they score...in which case I shout '"YES" very loud and very wildly and prolonged....as it doesn't happen that often so kind of feels like winning a rare prize or the lottery. All the years of suffering 0-0 and 0-1 losses etc and not seeing them score. It causes a volcano of emotion and frustration release. But it damages my throat and vocal cords...so I might change it to the method of the young toff son of Richard Harris in the Wild Geese who says "I am so excited I don't know what to do" and Richard Harris says "Why don't you try screaming?" And the boy says in a posh etonian tone "Yahoooooooooooooooo"

at 3:05mins:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4AQPQWyVrg


What I don;t get is why Dean Smith got rid of Will Grigg, Fabian Brandy and Jamie Paterson, when these players created and scored lots of goals.

Deano out! He's clearly clueless

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:31 pm

bangsection wrote:0-0 just isn't good enough against a team we should be beating. The goals have dried up and it's clear we need another striker because Doyle and Griffiths simply aren't cutting it. Over to you Mr Morgan...


:D

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:36 pm

Andy_Petterson wrote:
We-ARE-Walsall wrote:
Ancient Moaner wrote:Phew, I am glad this sallian fella has appeared! He makes me look like a mildly frustrated sort of bloke.
Seriously, we can all forget the idea of a striker, cus Deano dow think we need one!? :?

Good point today but we should be well into the play off's, however, with a 'goals for' tally equivalent to a relegation team, we will certainly need to get more 'points' to stay in contention! :(

Lets see what happens at Bramhall Lane................UTS


Based on what? Our average attendance? Our budget ?

I get your point obviously without being silly, but I miss having Bernie around to post useless statistics. I'd like him to post the league table this time last season. We will bring players in, on loan, when the time is right. They could be crucial, as for now we are ticking along, nothing spectacular, but take a long hard think about what the previous 4 years had been like before Christmas last year. It's not that bad you know.


Your wish is my command WAW
Table on 24.11.2012 Full Home Away
P W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A GD Pt
1 Tranmere Rovers 20 11 6 3 36 16 5 3 2 18 8 6 3 1 18 8 +20 39
2 Milton Keynes Dons 20 10 6 4 28 14 7 2 1 16 5 3 4 3 12 9 +14 36
3 Doncaster Rovers 19 11 3 5 28 16 4 1 4 11 10 7 2 1 17 6 +12 36
4 Sheffield United 20 9 9 2 26 17 5 5 0 18 10 4 4 2 8 7 +9 36
5 Brentford 20 9 8 3 28 19 7 2 1 18 9 2 6 2 10 10 +9 35
6 Notts County 20 9 7 4 32 20 4 2 4 14 12 5 5 0 18 8 +12 34
7 Stevenage 20 9 7 4 27 27 3 5 2 14 17 6 2 2 13 10 0 34
8 Swindon Town 20 9 5 6 29 17 4 3 3 15 7 5 2 3 14 10 +12 32
9 Crawley Town 20 9 4 7 27 28 5 2 3 17 15 4 2 4 10 13 -1 31
10 Bournemouth 20 7 8 5 34 32 4 5 1 18 11 3 3 4 16 21 +2 29
11 Preston North End 20 7 7 6 31 24 3 5 2 15 8 4 2 4 16 16 +7 28
12 Yeovil Town 20 9 1 10 30 31 4 1 5 12 14 5 0 5 18 17 -1 28
13 Leyton Orient 20 9 1 10 22 23 5 0 5 10 9 4 1 5 12 14 -1 28
14 Crewe Alexandra 20 7 6 7 24 27 5 2 3 12 10 2 4 4 12 17 -3 27
15 Coventry City 20 6 6 8 28 27 2 4 4 13 14 4 2 4 15 13 +1 24
16 Oldham Athletic 19 6 5 8 20 23 3 3 4 11 10 3 2 4 9 13 -3 23
17 Colchester United 20 6 5 9 23 31 4 3 3 14 12 2 2 6 9 19 -8 23
18 Carlisle United 20 6 5 9 26 38 2 2 6 13 25 4 3 3 13 13 -12 23
19 Walsall 20 5 7 8 22 30 2 3 5 12 19 3 4 3 10 11 -8 22
20 Portsmouth 20 5 4 11 25 31 3 1 6 12 13 2 3 5 13 18 -6 19
21 Bury 20 4 7 9 23 33 2 4 4 10 14 2 3 5 13 19 -10 19
22 Shrewsbury Town 20 4 6 10 21 27 4 3 3 13 11 0 3 7 8 16 -6 18
23 Scunthorpe United 20 4 5 11 20 37 1 3 6 10 21 3 2 5 10 16 -17 17
24 Hartlepool United 20 1 6 13 15 37 1 3 6 8 17 0 3 7 7 20 -22 9


Interestingly we are higher this season than Bournemouth and Yeovil last season

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:47 pm

Where are they now...

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 10:01 pm

Just found this in the archive, a gem of a post from Walsall_Casual recommending who he would've wanted us to sign in the 'Transfer Rumours 2010/11 season'. Enjoy the accurate description...
"These are not rumours just realistic players who I think would add to our squad:

Craig Westcarr - Pacey winger available on a Bosman free transfer although he has been offered a new contract by Notts County."

Mmmmmm striker/winger with pace...

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 10:08 pm

A point away never to be sniffed at.

Sounds like we should have won, but when have Walsall ever done what they should have?

UTS

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 10:13 pm


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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 11:04 pm

Can we afford better than we've already got? I'm not sure I've seen anything better this season, even Coventry and Wolves with the amount of money they spend didn't carry more threat.

I would say if we are going to lump it forward as much as we did today then we should play Hewitt. Westcarr and Sawyers didn't win a header all game.

Just to add that I heard that Darren Bent (£18m) missed a couple of sitters today. Money doesn't necessarily buy goals.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sat Nov 23, 2013 11:57 pm

aaaae wrote:Can we afford better than we've already got? I'm not sure I've seen anything better this season, even Coventry and Wolves with the amount of money they spend didn't carry more threat.

I would say if we are going to lump it forward as much as we did today then we should play Hewitt. Westcarr and Sawyers didn't win a header all game.

Just to add that I heard that Darren Bent (£18m) missed a couple of sitters today. Money doesn't necessarily buy goals.


We dont need an all-round striker, our build up play is good enough that all we need is a poacher. A player with a good chances/goal ratio like Grigg had.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 12:08 am

I disagree on the poacher thing. A poacher doesn't contribute much other than box hanging. Fair enough when you have a superb team.

We have a good team, but i think if we played that kind of player, it may stifle our play.

I dont think Westcarr will score us enough goals, but he is key to the way the front three play.

I think Grigg fitted into that system, he could move around the front three. Basically we need another Grigg, even if he is a knob.

I would like to see us bring on Hewitt earlier though, subs after the 75 minute mark are pointless. No time to get into the game. Gray should be given a chance earlier on too. BAxendale is usually shagged out.

Its not just Westcarr who should be expected to score, there are usually three playing upfront. Not just one.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 3:37 am

Does any one really expect Smith to come out with a statement like " I know Westcarr is useless but I've got to play him until I can find a really cheap striker who can score us 30 goals a season" :?:

he may even be thinking it but he ain't ever going to say it.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 8:25 am

saddla wrote:Does any one really expect Smith to come out with a statement like " I know Westcarr is useless but I've got to play him until I can find a really cheap striker who can score us 30 goals a season" :?:

he may even be thinking it but he ain't ever going to say it.


Trust me, he isn't thinking it. He is almost an automatic selection, he always fits him in someway or another. I'd say he rates him pretty highly. Doesn't mean we can't or wont sign someone better (on loan probably)

If he thought he was useless, he wouldn't have re-signed him, and he would pick other players in front of him, he never does this, because he sees what he offers the side. If we signed another Striker, pretty sure Westcarr would still play.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 9:18 am

latviancheese wrote:I disagree on the poacher thing. A poacher doesn't contribute much other than box hanging.


This.

The way we play needs everyone playing their part, and linking together.

Finding someone who can play up front on their own AND score lots of goals isn't easy.

We could find someone who can put all the tap-ins away, but they wouldn't have the tap-ins in the first place.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 9:28 am

Yeah, it's a weird situation. Westcarr isn't the best finisher, but he contributes. We need a different type of striker than a goal poacher. We need one that can link play, be comfortable back and front to goal and be a striker who has to occupy two or possibly three centre backs, as he did on Monday night.

If we could get the right player, great, but it's harder than looking for the chap with the most goals in the fewest games.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 10:32 am

Fray Bentos is God! wrote:Yeah, it's a weird situation. Westcarr isn't the best finisher, but he contributes. We need a different type of striker than a goal poacher. We need one that can link play, be comfortable back and front to goal and be a striker who has to occupy two or possibly three centre backs, as he did on Monday night.

If we could get the right player, great, but it's harder than looking for the chap with the most goals in the fewest games.


Just an idea, but surely a bit of coaching would do the trick here. It's quite difficult to train players to get in to the right positions, you either have it or you don't. However teaching someone how to strike a ball with a decent percent chance of it hitting the net shouldn't be that difficult in all honesty. If we could just improve our finishing a few % we'd win a lot more games.

The thing with Westcarr, he seems to be able to bury chances when he doesn't have time to think about it, where as chances like the one he fluffed against Peterboro he finds more difficult (although the keeper did extremely well narrowing the angle) This should be the easiest of all things to improve on with a bit of work on the training pitch.

You have to be very careful over tinkering with things that are actually working, a change of personnel may not be the answer at all.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 10:35 am

Well that's what I was thinking. I don't think we need a new striker, I just think we need to train finishing into the front players we have.

It just seems to be that the stock call is for a new striker, usually Jabo Ibhere, who wasn't a good finisher.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 10:40 am

Fray Bentos is God! wrote:Well that's what I was thinking. I don't think we need a new striker, I just think we need to train finishing into the front players we have.

It just seems to be that the stock call is for a new striker, usually Jabo Ibhere, who wasn't a good finisher.


Work on their composure and shooting the ball in to the corner of the net, how hard can it be? No where near as hard as teaching someone how to run off the ball, where to be and when. We are ticking a long nicely, we could and probably should be doing a little better based on what I've seen, but I'm not grumbling, it's generally good to watch, we have a team spirit, players who want to play for us. If they lose they lose together, and if you take a look at the celebrations when Butler scored at the Wolves, shows how much it meant to them all.

I'm making the most of it, cos it wont last forever.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 10:57 am

We-ARE-Walsall wrote:I'm making the most of it, cos it wont last forever.


You're right. It'll be a lot harder to win games in The Championship.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 11:29 am

Magic Man Fan wrote:
latviancheese wrote:I disagree on the poacher thing. A poacher doesn't contribute much other than box hanging.


This.

The way we play needs everyone playing their part, and linking together.

Finding someone who can play up front on their own AND score lots of goals isn't easy.

We could find someone who can put all the tap-ins away, but they wouldn't have the tap-ins in the first place.


Dont get me wrong, it's a nice problem to have.

Personally I rate Westcarr, but I rate him more as the player in the hole, but that then gives us the problem of how to fit Sawyers in.

When Westcarr plays upfront and not in the hole he doesn't contribute as much (see the Peterborough game) and when he gets chances he tends to fluff a few (see the Peterborough game).

We do need a poacher/finisher - a Joachim/Mooney/Cureton type. That doesnt mean we have to play them all the time, but in games where we are creating chances we need to put them away.

To say that playing a poacher instead of Westcarr upfront would mean we wouldn't play as well or create as many chances is rubbish IMO. The key players to our creativity are the diamond that we play - central midfield (Mantom), in the hole (Sawyers/Westcarr), right wing, left wing.

We need a plan B!

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 11:37 am

Was always going to be a problem, think it has been said enough times how many number 10 type players we have, and no real number 9.

If the right player became available (on loan probably) I am sure we could accommodate a poacher type player if he had good off the ball skills, that's the managers job at the end of the day, getting it all to gel. Although I don't have any real problems with any of the signings for this season, I don't think it was though out that well.

We have plenty of players of a better quality than we have had for some time, problem is they are all for similar positions/roles. As long as we are keeping things tight at the back, which in general we have been pretty good, and we stay within touching distance of the top 6, we will look to bring someone in later in the season, and have an outside chance of the play offs.

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Re: Crawley Town (A) League One Saturday 24th Nov 3pm

Sun Nov 24, 2013 1:09 pm

I have no doubt that the things stated above are worked on in training. The difference for me between this season and last is the pace at which we attack, particularly once Brandy became a regular starter. It resulted in loads of penalties as well, part of the reason we had a 20 goal striker. We also had Paterson that could open up the opposition with a killer ball.

I don't think the style is any different this season, but we are not as effective as during the second half of last season. What we must not forget though is how we have improved at the other end of the pitch.

As for plan B, I always struggle with the concept. Someone said yesterday that we were lumping balls forward in the first half which was not working. To me you have a way of playing and the personnel are recruited to suit that style. I accept that it ain't always going to work. What you should be able to do is adapt tactics to suit a particular set of circumstances, which I believe we are doing reasonably well most of the time.

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