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Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Reports and reaction from the 2013-2014 season as Walsall finished 13th in League 1
MPSADDLER
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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:32 pm

The problem with Ngoo is that he is just not a player that is suited to our situation. He is raw and inexperienced player who may one day become a decent striker at a better level even.

But we were not in a situation when we signed in to lend him and Liverpool a helping hand in his progress. We needed an experienced head who had been around the block a bit.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:52 pm

On the issue of today's game and others before it, I just feel we don't move the ball quick enough to catch the opposition off guard. So many occasion when we delayed the pass too long today. Free kicks as well could have been taken quicker to get them out of shape. We allow teams to get into shape too much.

I think Chambers also needs resting for Featherstone. He looked totally shot of energy and confidence today, so often selecting the safe option of the backwards ball.

PS. I think Downing is still turning around to chase back for their second goal. I have seen fresh milk turn quicker.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:03 pm

I agree with WFC Rob's appraisal of our team. I agree with Boring teacher's appraisal of Crawley.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:58 pm

1. What the fudge was Butler doing for the pen?
2. Was I the only one who thought O'Donnell could/should have done better with the second goal?
3. Why was Sawyers playing nearer to our goal than Butler at the end?
4. Our fullbacks can't defend.
5. Did anything happen in the game that Crawley didn't moan about?
6. Can I get a quarter of the cost of the game back as I feel that is the amount wasted by their goalie from about 10 minutes in?
7. The team looks flat, tired maybe. Where has the pressing, brisk passing gone?

That is all.

(Got my nipper a WFC baby grow though... we'm still the best).

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:10 pm

Some slight over reactions on this thread

Recent team changes ngoo,brandy,purkiss and Benning affect momentum

We only own one striker all three up front are loanees

At this stage of the season every team we play have something to play for we have no right to a win

We are safe and this is cause for celebration I can't believe people are moaning about a mid table finish

And as far as the wolves are concerned the towel will never be thrown in

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:49 pm

I don't think there have been any real overreactions... certainly not from me. We needed to win today: we are now 10 points behind Rotherham whom have a game in hand, and 5 points behind Peterboro whom also have a game in hand. Our next 3 games are against Preston (away), Coventry (away), and the Dingles at home. We are now looking at pretty much having to win all of these games to even gain slightly (as Peterborough have on paper much easier) games. We could potentially come out of the next 3 games 10/12 points behind Peterborough. That is why I suggest our play off dream may be over. It is not based on an overreaction: just common sense.

We still have a chance but it's very slim after today.

I can summarise the match quite easily:

1. First 60mins we were utter cack: Hoofball rubbish to Ngoo.
2. When Ngoo went off and we actually bought on Sawyers and played football we looked alright without any real penetration.

Bonus Info:
3. Our Fullbacks were crap: Fine at getting into attacking positions but zero end product.
4. Butler was terrible. Downing was slow and cumbersome strangely.
5. Mantom and Chambers had a huge gap between them and the front 3/4 until Ngoo went off which meant we resorted to channel-hoofing. Thought this was clearly a plan.
6. Ngoo, I do not blame him for the way we played: he had zero support in general and was often crowded out but my god, why does he not pass instead of trying to take on 11 players?
7. Lalkovic and Brandy - game bypassed them until someone who can play football came on. Lalkovic came off too early - bizarre decision (even if he was booked).
8. Why didn't Hemmings come on for Adam Chambers or one of the fullbacks? Why did we not go for it ?

Deano got it wrong, wrong, wrong today and it was obvious after 3 mins it wasn't working. Why did he not change it ? His subs and in-game tactical reactions have never been the best, this is something he needs to improve upon.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:08 am

Some observations based on no evidence whatsoever (other than the 3 games I've seen this season, Oldham, Sheff U and Notts C (all away). After the last of these I came away thinking I had seen the best Walsall performance in a league game in 50+ (admittedly intermittent) years of following the Saddlers, and that we were a shoo-in for the play offs. So what's gone wrong? Well the only change seems to be that we have signed a player who, according to reports of those who are actually able to go to matches regularly, doesn't fit into the style of play which got us into the position where we were looking to be favourites for a play off position. This seems horribly familiar - for Ngoo read Dave Bamber. Of course as a very infrequent attender I may have got this wrong, but it seems to me that the situation is recoverable if the management is big enough to admit its mistake and revert to plan A and the players that got us to the position we were in three weeks ago. That's not to say that Ngoo might not be an asset as an alternative strategy when our sexy football isn't working, In any case its too soon to write us off just yet.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:13 am

Cowshed wrote:Some slight over reactions on this thread

Recent team changes ngoo,brandy,purkiss and Benning affect momentum

We only own one striker all three up front are loanees

At this stage of the season every team we play have something to play for we have no right to a win

We are safe and this is cause for celebration I can't believe people are moaning about a mid table finish

And as far as the wolves are concerned the towel will never be thrown in


One of the most pessimistic posts I have seen.

We are currently 7th, with a very possible chance of making the play-offs. I, for one, would be disappointed if we missed out. Therefore I will be moaning if we happen to finish 12th, and I believe many others would.

We have one of the lowest budgets in the league, but that doesnt mean every season we should celebrate hitting mid table, like its some sort of achievement.

No we dont have the right to beat every team in the division, and no, I dont expect us to. But to be on the verge of the play-offs and then having a disappointing result at home against a bang average Crawly side, you cant blame supporters for being angry.

We may be overachieving. But by the sounds of it, giving 110% against a Wolves side and maybe getting a victory but coming 12th, in our current position, would constitute a good and successful season? Do me a favor.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:59 am

In previous posts I have stated the following:

1. We need a big, bustling striker up front
2. Ngoo should play instead of Sawyers
3. Purkiss should replace Chambers because he is the better crosser of the ball

Today proved that I know fudge all. :(

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:10 am

JAL-WFC wrote:
Cowshed wrote:Some slight over reactions on this thread

Recent team changes ngoo,brandy,purkiss and Benning affect momentum

We only own one striker all three up front are loanees

At this stage of the season every team we play have something to play for we have no right to a win

We are safe and this is cause for celebration I can't believe people are moaning about a mid table finish

And as far as the wolves are concerned the towel will never be thrown in


One of the most pessimistic posts I have seen.

We are currently 7th, with a very possible chance of making the play-offs. I, for one, would be disappointed if we missed out. Therefore I will be moaning if we happen to finish 12th, and I believe many others would.

We have one of the lowest budgets in the league, but that doesnt mean every season we should celebrate hitting mid table, like its some sort of achievement.

No we dont have the right to beat every team in the division, and no, I dont expect us to. But to be on the verge of the play-offs and then having a disappointing result at home against a bang average Crawly side, you cant blame supporters for being angry.

We may be overachieving. But by the sounds of it, giving 110% against a Wolves side and maybe getting a victory but coming 12th, in our current position, would constitute a good and successful season? Do me a favor.


Totally agree, have always said this, it's a losers mentality.

If we miss out, we miss out, not gonna cry about it, but all this " we should be grateful" nonsense, really gets on my tits.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 5:22 am

DonningtonSaddler wrote:In previous posts I have stated the following:

1. We need a big, bustling striker up front
2. Ngoo should play instead of Sawyers
3. Purkiss should replace Chambers because he is the better crosser of the ball

Today proved that I know donald all. :(

Nice honest post.
Football makes a fool of men (as do their willies in some cases).

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:28 am

I think it's also important to point out that the people who said we needed a striker are not wrong at all.. we could have had Alan Shearer, Gabriel Batistuta, Peter Crouch or Zlatan up front today and it wouldn't have mattered.

Counterintuitevely... what 'mattered' was that because Ngoo played, the tactic was to hit him with the ball and play on the chance he might get a flick on or maybe have slipped someone in on goal. This is in stark contrast to the way we have been playing all season, which was to minimise the 'maybes' and 'mights' and control the game with good possession and pressing.

I firmly believe if we had actually played football in the way we have all season with Ngoo in the side, then the performance of the personnel and Ngoo would have been much better because Ngoo does actually have a decent touch.

After about 10 mins, I turned to Cheesebag and said 'Only seen Ngoo for ten mins, but I can tell already that he is someone to bring on in the last 15/20 mins if we are chasing the game or want to change the dynamic of a game'. This (!) is what the people were crying out for.... but DS has lost sight of this. He actually had the cheek to turn round and have a go at Me and Chaysey (after about 40 mins) for having the audacity to suggest we should stop playing 'Hoofball' as we put it and get back to passing it. Seriously... no joke here, he looked genuinely amazed that we thought we were launching it. That is worrying.

What Deano got wrong was a total inversion of what we do well which is why it was so so poor:

He scrapped Plan A (Why?!) for Plan B when we should start with Plan A and then go to Plan B (Ngoo).

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 10:19 am

Neuromantic wrote:I think it's also important to point out that the people who said we needed a striker are not wrong at all.. we could have had Alan Shearer, Gabriel Batistuta, Peter Crouch or Zlatan up front today and it wouldn't have mattered.

Counterintuitevely... what 'mattered' was that because Ngoo played, the tactic was to hit him with the ball and play on the chance he might get a flick on or maybe have slipped someone in on goal. This is in stark contrast to the way we have been playing all season, which was to minimise the 'maybes' and 'mights' and control the game with good possession and pressing.

I firmly believe if we had actually played football in the way we have all season with Ngoo in the side, then the performance of the personnel and Ngoo would have been much better because Ngoo does actually have a decent touch.

After about 10 mins, I turned to Cheesebag and said 'Only seen Ngoo for ten mins, but I can tell already that he is someone to bring on in the last 15/20 mins if we are chasing the game or want to change the dynamic of a game'. This (!) is what the people were crying out for.... but DS has lost sight of this. He actually had the cheek to turn round and have a go at Me and Chaysey (after about 40 mins) for having the audacity to suggest we should stop playing 'Hoofball' as we put it and get back to passing it. Seriously... no joke here, he looked genuinely amazed that we thought we were launching it. That is worrying.

What Deano got wrong was a total inversion of what we do well which is why it was so so poor:

He scrapped Plan A (Why?!) for Plan B when we should start with Plan A and then go to Plan B (Ngoo).

In defence of Smith, the same midfield/attack was a bit unlucky not to win at Peterborough 8 days before. A cack night, but did we play the same way? If so, was it simply forced by the conditions? I wasn't there and unlike some geniuses on here, I'd like to know the views of some who were before completely slagging Deano off.

The test of Smith is what he does now and the side he puts out at PNE next week.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 10:20 am

Neuromantic has talked a lot of sense in his last 2 posts.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 10:30 am

SaddlerSteve wrote:Neuromantic has talked a lot of sense in his last 2 posts.

Agreed - my dig was at a sub-bridging poster.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 10:38 am

JAL-WFC wrote:
Cowshed wrote:Some slight over reactions on this thread

Recent team changes ngoo,brandy,purkiss and Benning affect momentum

We only own one striker all three up front are loanees

At this stage of the season every team we play have something to play for we have no right to a win

We are safe and this is cause for celebration I can't believe people are moaning about a mid table finish

And as far as the wolves are concerned the towel will never be thrown in


One of the most pessimistic posts I have seen.

We are currently 7th, with a very possible chance of making the play-offs. I, for one, would be disappointed if we missed out. Therefore I will be moaning if we happen to finish 12th, and I believe many others would.

We have one of the lowest budgets in the league, but that doesnt mean every season we should celebrate hitting mid table, like its some sort of achievement.




No we dont have the right to beat every team in the division, and no, I dont expect us to. But to be on the verge of the play-offs and then having a disappointing result at home against a bang average Crawly side, you cant blame supporters for being angry.

We may be overachieving. But by the sounds of it, giving 110% against a Wolves side and maybe getting a victory but coming
12th, in our current position, would constitute a good and successful season? Do me a favor.




It's interesting how people have a different perspective of the same situation I.e safe mid table

I guess some people are glass half empty and some are glass half full

Always been the latter!

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 10:53 am

The truth of the matter is, we aren't quite good enough, there is no shame in that at all, it's not even a negative comment. When Smith looks for players in the summer, I would suggest he looks for some round pegs, to fit on round holes, because the balance in the attacking 3rd hasn't been quite right this season. He finally got it to something that was passable, and he goes and throws it all out of the window. Odd.

We are far to easy to work out, more than a few sides have come to Walsall with a clear plan of how to stop us, and we have had no answer to it. We don't score enough goals for whatever reason it may be. We aren't ruthless enough, we always seem happy to take the draw to remain unbeaten, instead of taking the chance on getting the 3 points. I am still confident it will come, there are so many positives beyond those few problems above. Football doesn't end at the end of the season (hopefully) we still have a decent squad already in place for next season.

If we were to push on this season, we needed one of our real impact loan signings that we've had in the past, not an Ngoo, nothing against the lad, but that he clearly isn't. It's not over just yet, but the fact I can't honestly see where the next win is coming from at the moment is more of a problem, than our actual points tally, and league position.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:15 pm

We-ARE-Walsall wrote:
JAL-WFC wrote:
Cowshed wrote:Some slight over reactions on this thread

Recent team changes ngoo,brandy,purkiss and Benning affect momentum

We only own one striker all three up front are loanees

At this stage of the season every team we play have something to play for we have no right to a win

We are safe and this is cause for celebration I can't believe people are moaning about a mid table finish

And as far as the wolves are concerned the towel will never be thrown in


One of the most pessimistic posts I have seen.

We are currently 7th, with a very possible chance of making the play-offs. I, for one, would be disappointed if we missed out. Therefore I will be moaning if we happen to finish 12th, and I believe many others would.

We have one of the lowest budgets in the league, but that doesnt mean every season we should celebrate hitting mid table, like its some sort of achievement.

No we dont have the right to beat every team in the division, and no, I dont expect us to. But to be on the verge of the play-offs and then having a disappointing result at home against a bang average Crawly side, you cant blame supporters for being angry.

We may be overachieving. But by the sounds of it, giving 110% against a Wolves side and maybe getting a victory but coming 12th, in our current position, would constitute a good and successful season? Do me a favor.


Totally agree, have always said this, it's a losers mentality.

If we miss out, we miss out, not gonna cry about it, but all this " we should be grateful" nonsense, really gets on my fools.


Agreed, an element on here seem to think the club should be immune from criticism just because of our budget.

The fact we have so little money means taking the chance to get into the playoffs when it comes along all the more important.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:21 pm

The most concerning thing for me is the slow, ponderous nature of our football for the last few games. This is exacerbated by the fact teams sit deep against us now, they know we've not got the guile to break teams down and do mostly bore teams to death.

We really miss Taylor and Chambers, not just defensively, but also in going forward. Bennington doesn't have the same understanding with Lalkovic as Taylor does, and Purkiss is poor all round

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:28 pm

W-a-W wrote:If we were to push on this season, we needed one of our real impact loan signings that we've had in the past, not an Ngoo, nothing against the lad, but that he clearly isn't. It's not over just yet, but the fact I can't honestly see where the next win is coming from at the moment is more of a problem, than our actual points tally, and league position.


If we were to push on this season, we'd have taken some of the £1.2m we made from Grigg and Pato and invested it in a couple of quality attacking players to plug the gap in the goals for column. Instead we've loaned Lalkovic, Brandy and Ngoo.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:02 pm

I had forgotten that John Gregory is their manager. We contrived to lose to one of his sides, which makes it Even worse.

As for Purkiss, he looks a decent player when we dominate the game. We didnt yesterday, and he looked poor, and his concrete boots were on show. James Chambers is just a better player all round.
Last edited by latviancheese on Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:05 pm

philthesaddler wrote:
W-a-W wrote:If we were to push on this season, we needed one of our real impact loan signings that we've had in the past, not an Ngoo, nothing against the lad, but that he clearly isn't. It's not over just yet, but the fact I can't honestly see where the next win is coming from at the moment is more of a problem, than our actual points tally, and league position.


If we were to push on this season, we'd have taken some of the £1.2m we made from Grigg and Pato and invested it in a couple of quality attacking players to plug the gap in the goals for column. Instead we've loaned Lalkovic, Brandy and Ngoo.


You are probably right. It's not an opinion many people share I don't think, but I think we carry Lalkovic, and he isn't good enough to warrant carrying. All players in that position drift in and out of games, and are notoriously inconsistent, but he just doesn't offer enough.

Anyway, even with the squad we have, some people see us as over achievers, but I've seen us throw enough points away to think we have missed the boat slightly.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:01 pm

philthesaddler wrote:
W-a-W wrote:If we were to push on this season, we needed one of our real impact loan signings that we've had in the past, not an Ngoo, nothing against the lad, but that he clearly isn't. It's not over just yet, but the fact I can't honestly see where the next win is coming from at the moment is more of a problem, than our actual points tally, and league position.


If we were to push on this season, we'd have taken some of the £1.2m we made from Grigg and Pato and invested it in a couple of quality attacking players to plug the gap in the goals for column. Instead we've loaned Lalkovic, Brandy and Ngoo.


We also signed three forwards in Westcarr, Sawyers and Hewitt. I'd say two of those are quality, but guess it is all rather subjective.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:53 pm

PT wrote:
philthesaddler wrote:
W-a-W wrote:If we were to push on this season, we needed one of our real impact loan signings that we've had in the past, not an Ngoo, nothing against the lad, but that he clearly isn't. It's not over just yet, but the fact I can't honestly see where the next win is coming from at the moment is more of a problem, than our actual points tally, and league position.


If we were to push on this season, we'd have taken some of the £1.2m we made from Grigg and Pato and invested it in a couple of quality attacking players to plug the gap in the goals for column. Instead we've loaned Lalkovic, Brandy and Ngoo.


We also signed three forwards in Westcarr, Sawyers and Hewitt. I'd say two of those are quality, but guess it is all rather subjective.


Problem being none of them are really strikers, Westcarr and Sawyers because it's not really their ideal position, and Hewitt because he is useless, about one notch above the likes of Parkin, Jarvis etc in terms of footballing ability.

Westcarr has done a fine job though over the season, far better than expected, He would have been my player of the season not so long back, but Mantom has gone steaming past him for that at this moment in time in my opinion.

Fwiw, even with the whole 1.2 million to spend, you'd still be hard pushed to get a couple of quality attacking players to Walsall. They don't come cheap, but that isn't the only problem in getting good players to Walsall.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 3:31 pm

We-ARE-Walsall wrote:
PT wrote:
philthesaddler wrote:
W-a-W wrote:If we were to push on this season, we needed one of our real impact loan signings that we've had in the past, not an Ngoo, nothing against the lad, but that he clearly isn't. It's not over just yet, but the fact I can't honestly see where the next win is coming from at the moment is more of a problem, than our actual points tally, and league position.


If we were to push on this season, we'd have taken some of the £1.2m we made from Grigg and Pato and invested it in a couple of quality attacking players to plug the gap in the goals for column. Instead we've loaned Lalkovic, Brandy and Ngoo.


We also signed three forwards in Westcarr, Sawyers and Hewitt. I'd say two of those are quality, but guess it is all rather subjective.


Problem being none of them are really strikers, Westcarr and Sawyers because it's not really their ideal position, and Hewitt because he is useless, about one notch above the likes of Parkin, Jarvis etc in terms of footballing ability.

Westcarr has done a fine job though over the season, far better than expected, He would have been my player of the season not so long back, but Mantom has gone steaming past him for that at this moment in time in my opinion.

Fwiw, even with the whole 1.2 million to spend, you'd still be hard pushed to get a couple of quality attacking players to Walsall. They don't come cheap, but that isn't the only problem in getting good players to Walsall.


Which is why the best thing the club can do is invest the money in the academy and bring through our own players. Exactly what it has done.

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 4:51 pm

Have they got 6 games "in hand" just down to matches being postponed due to weather?

If they won them all they'd go above us


On Track :cry:

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:01 pm

[quote="kshammer"]1. What the donald was Butler doing for the pen?
2. Was I the only one who thought O'Donnell could/should have done better with the second goal?
3. Why was Sawyers playing nearer to our goal than Butler at the end?
4. Our fullbacks can't defend.
5. Did anything happen in the game that Crawley didn't moan about?
6. Can I get a quarter of the cost of the game back as I feel that is the amount wasted by their goalie from about 10 minutes in?
7. The team looks flat, tired maybe. Where has the pressing, brisk passing gone?

Have to agree with all the above, specially about the Crawley players, moaning their way into the record books surely!
We have to face the fact that we are just not good enough when our preferred team is not on the pitch.
First time I have seen 'em for a while, and to be honest I was embarrassed, it was a head in hands job for most of an astonishingly forgettable first half. We DID look tired, disinterested, and most infuriating of all looked like relegation fodder against a team that wouldn't grace a Sunday morning League.
Where was the shexy football that I saw at Bramhall Lane? (though granted that we still would not have scored another if we had still been playing now!).
I'm sorry but Ngoo is a bumbling, sorry, untalented 'stand in' for the upcoming film about Crouch, though someone like Sallian might even realise a distinct error of judgment on the part of the Casting Director! :lol: :lol:
His inability to trap, turn, or distribute were of nothing to his flailing arms, that fouled every opposition player near him.
Why do videos of such players always show them as 'class' fast moving strikers....are they 'doctored'?
We have some 'stinkers' coming up, and it will need a stunning (like a young Burt Reynolds) turnaround in the teams ability
if we are to have any chance of finishing in the top 10 yet alone the play off's, which, if we were honest, are a lost cause.
There is always next season, if we can hold on to the basis of the squad, with the addition of a quick agile striker, we may have a chance of a great season!
UTS always (good to see Kenny Mower in the bar though!)

SWS1
 

Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:49 pm

"disinterested", Ancient? I think you mean UNINTERESTED.
Didn't you used to be a teacher?
(I think I may have got that wrong).
:D

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:00 am

SWS1 wrote:"disinterested", Ancient? I think you mean UNINTERESTED.
Didn't you used to be a teacher?
(I think I may have got that wrong).
:D


I have to agree with the honourable member from South Wales.....they couldn't have been disinterested, because (after all) they were being paid. :wink:

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Re: Crawley Town (H) League One 22 Feb 3pm

Mon Feb 24, 2014 11:21 am

Not sure why Purkiss is coming in for some stick on here. One of best players.

Dunno why Lalkovic gets grief either - he can be frustrating and give away the ball but he and Brandy are the 2 most creative players we have who give the opposition a tricky time defending.

Bit too early to judge Ngoo but people wanting us to get a striker probably had in mind a clinical finisher not necessarily just a big target man. It was like we just forgot our normal style of play from the off on Saturday and any chance to pass to Ngoo meant we played a different style and we didn't look great doing that. We were a changed team after Sawyers replaced Ngoo and the midfield and front line looked much more comfortable with their roles.

No harm in occasionally having a more direct approach, as we can do the passing around the edge of their box stuff a bit too much, but as people have said, Ngoo is more a "plan B" outlet to bring on as a sub I think.

Hopefully Deano only says the "we played well" stuff to protect the players rather than his honest assessment of our performance which was poor

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