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Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Reports and reaction from the 2014-2015 season as Walsall finished 3rd in League 1
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Graydon48
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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Sun Oct 11, 2015 5:39 pm

Mazza01 wrote:Disappointed with the criticism aimed at Flanagan apart from a couple of stray passed he broke up play really well. A number of fans are getting a little carried away with their expectations.

Not getting carried away with expectations. To Flannigans credit he does not hide even after a bad pass but he does seem to wimp out of 50/50 challenges. But more bulk like Sawyers and I think he could be a very good player.

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:26 pm

The Bosted Slab wrote:One 18 year old
One 19 year old
Three 20 year olds
Two 21 year olds
Two 22 year olds
Five 23 year olds
One 25 year old
One 29year old
One 30 year old
One 34 year old

Those are the ages of today's eighteen selected for the team and bench.

Six of those have come through the youth system.

All very encouraging when you consider that there aren't really too many "makeweights" amongst them.

Another good thing this season is with the manager having thrown away the shackles that restricted his team selections in the past, meaning more players are now getting game time and therefore increasing their experience and proving their capabilities.

I feared that we wouldn't have enough creativity in the starting eleven when I saw the team news with Morris and Lalkovic being omitted, but with the performances of both Henry and Kinsella in the wide areas those fears were unfounded.

Chambers was outstanding in everything he did.

Kinsella cannot be confined to the margins again when Demetriou returns, as not only would that not be fair, but it wouldn't be sensible, as Kinsella's development has already suffered virtually a wasted year since his impressive series of performances early last season and he warrants a place in every match day eighteen from what I have seen. I'm not advocating that he keeps his place instead of Demetriou, but I am suggesting that he should be regularly replacing one of the players currently occupying a permanent bench place.

Bradshaw must be delighted to have kept his goal scoring ticking over, especially given the lack of and poor service he was given.

Congratulations all round with everyone playing their part.


Agree with this, the bench was strong today and when demetriou is back Kinsella should be on the bench with baxendale making way, we have more than enough players In this particular position.

Saturdays cant come quick enough at the minute

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boringteacher
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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:25 pm

I wonder how many people (like me) thought when seeing the lineup (a) where the hell is a goal coming from and (b) why are we so scared of them?

Well done Dean. We bossed them in the first half by being strong in midfield. I was crying out for a Morris or Lalkovich to start the game but you've got to ask whether we'd have had the dominance if we'd have been slightly lighter weight in midfield. I also thought his changes in the 2nd half were clever - though we rode our (deserved ) luck a couple of times in the last 15 minutes, the presence of Cook and change of formation meant that we looked equally like nailing them on the break.

Proud to be a Saddler yesterday (with man love for Chambers)

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:25 pm

Cook wasn't too bad when he came on but he dosen't really look like scoring so only thing I'd query is would Milan not be a better bet in that situation, to bring on with his pace for counter attacks and play him just off Bradshaw?

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:38 pm

SoccerHQ wrote:Cook wasn't too bad when he came on but he dosen't really look like scoring so only thing I'd query is would Milan not be a better bet in that situation, to bring on with his pace for counter attacks and play him just off Bradshaw?

It's in Cook's contract that he takes part in all games.

"I don't buy all these flashy coloured boots to sit at home watching television in, you know".

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:28 pm

on the subject of "where is a goal coming from?" I still think shooting in the team is a real issue, the amount of chances Mantom has had this season from distance where other players who are similar from a game-style perspective would've at least stung the keepers palm's and he's scuffed it wide...crazy. Other than that he's been solid and consistent and never seems phased by a really busy segment of play.

My only bone to pick at the moment really, get practicing shooting from outside the box!!

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:51 am

Great result, and solid-ish performance.

Could have been left ruing our missed chances if Burton could have scored from 6 yards out with 5minutes to go, but even the Burton Manager and Captain admitted that Walsall were worth their win in post match press.

Chambers was back at it, no stray stuff, and excellent feet in. Kinsella did very well as a fill-in, took his goal well, but did make a poor clearing header and got turned inside out just before half-time that could have been costly. Demetriou straight back in for me. Kins should get more time as a midfield 'spare'.

Fingers crossed Mr O'Connor's injury isn't too bad, as I think we'd struggle to maintain our excellent defensive record without him. Plummer's trial to turn into a loan this week perhaps?

But, top of the league after passing a 1/4 of the league season. Aces.

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Mon Oct 12, 2015 8:50 am

boringteacher wrote:Well done Dean. We bossed them in the first half by being strong in midfield. I was crying out for a Morris or Lalkovich to start the game but you've got to ask whether we'd have had the dominance if we'd have been slightly lighter weight in midfield. I also thought his changes in the 2nd half were clever - though we rode our (deserved ) luck a couple of times in the last 15 minutes, the presence of Cook and change of formation meant that we looked equally like nailing them on the break.


To be honest, I wasn't surprised when I saw the lineup. It was the 2 best defences in the league, so it was always going to be tight, no point going all out attack to concede one then face having to get a couple of goals against one of the leagues top defences.

It's the change in approach that is the marked difference to last year IMO. Last season, regardless of the opponents, we'd play the 4-1-2-2-1 system with the 2 inside forwards (Cook, Morris, Forde), however this exposed Taylor who's legs have been showing their age for the past 18 months, and he was struggling to cope with pacy wingers, and it became predictable.

Now, Smith's developed this other tactic - the wing back system 5-3-1-1 - and has used it wisely. The addition of this tactic makes it harder for opposing managers to set up against us, allows Taylor to play (who is still a quality defender), but in a less demanding role, and gets the best out of 2 of the most attacking full-backs we've ever had in Rico and Jason.

Someone mentioned earlier on this thread how unbalance this system is with Taylor playing as centre-back but sometimes drifting to left back - I agree, but I wouldn't say it's unbalanced - it's fluid, and it's one of the reasons the tactic is working well for us. Its fluidity means the back 5 of Demetriou, OConnor, Downing, Taylor and Rico can shift to a flat back 4, allowing Rico to play as a full on winger when needs be, but can just as easily switch back in to a 5, giving us extra protection. If we played Preston instead of Taylor to give us a back 3 of Downing, OConnor and Preston, we wouldn't be able to do that.

Whether this is by design, or luck I dont know - but it certainly fits the squad shape at the moment with Taylor coming to the end of his career and Rico just earning his stripes.

I would now expect Smith to change the system against struggling Chesterfield, to the more attacking 4-2-3-1, and this is the line-up I'd expect:

Etheridge - McGillivray didn't exactly do anything wrong, but I think Etheridge will come back in
Demetriou - Kinsella doesn't deserve to be dropped, but if my hunch is right about the change to a more attacking system, I think Smith will go for more solidity in his back 4, and JD brings that where LK probably doesnt
Downing
OConnor
Taylor
Chambers
Mantom
Sawyers
Lalkovic
Morris
Bradshaw

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Mon Oct 12, 2015 9:48 am

I actually don't think we played that well - which is encouraging. Winning games when not getting out of second gear shows we are a very good side.

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Mon Oct 12, 2015 10:04 am

Neuromantic wrote:I actually don't think we played that well - which is encouraging. Winning games when not getting out of second gear shows we are a very good side.


True.

Thing is tho it was a local derby, and quite scrappy for long periods - which is very watchable for the fans, but it doesn't make either side look good.

As you say tho, we are winning games without really playing amazingly well. It's just important to add goals to the games now, which is why Mantoms 3 missed chances are so frustrating

I didn't go to the Bury game, so I'm not sure how we performed in that game, but when you consider the Crewe and Peterborough games, which equates to 4 points dropped, we should be a long way clear at the top

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:54 pm

SoccerHQ wrote:Cook wasn't too bad when he came on but he dosen't really look like scoring so only thing I'd query is would Milan not be a better bet in that situation, to bring on with his pace for counter attacks and play him just off Bradshaw?

I think you need to consider the likelihood that Smith put Cook on to help protect the lead rather than extend it. If there's one thing you can say about Cook, it's that he will track back, he will get his kit dirty, and he will put a tackle in - as we saw in what happened before the second goal.

Don't get me wrong, I know what you mean about Milan being more threatening, but sometimes there's a bit more to it than that.

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Tue Oct 13, 2015 9:58 am

Still on a high from Saturday's game. We were superb, passing football, good defensive work with two key players out and we actually gel as a team now.
Sawyers is class, he has Championship quality written all over him. O'Connor is like a player transformed, his expereince really showed on Saturday.
Chambers seems to be more comfortable in the Captain role this season and you can see his influence on Sawyers during the game .
Mantom sadly not yet back to the player he was , hopefully he will in time.
Bradshaw did very little but when required stepped up to the mark.
I thought the standout player was Rico Henry, full of running, inventive and growing in stature before our eyes.
We are finally playing as a team and long may it continue.
The best Ive seen them all season and yes we are top of the league.:)

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:23 pm

WFC_Rob wrote:
SoccerHQ wrote:Cook wasn't too bad when he came on but he dosen't really look like scoring so only thing I'd query is would Milan not be a better bet in that situation, to bring on with his pace for counter attacks and play him just off Bradshaw?

I think you need to consider the likelihood that Smith put Cook on to help protect the lead rather than extend it. If there's one thing you can say about Cook, it's that he will track back, he will get his kit dirty, and he will put a tackle in


.....then weakly surrenders possession.

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:34 pm

To be fair to Cook (and I'm not his biggest fan at all) he was more than decent at Scunthorpe, followed up by a dreadful cameo at Wigan, but he did put the crunching tackle in the middle of the park which started the move for the penalty on Saturday...

All in all, he's not good enough to be our back-up striker but probably offers more as an all-round sub than Baxendale does. I can't see either getting an extension to their contract at the end of the season though.

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Wed Oct 14, 2015 10:46 am

As an absentee fan what I think I see this season is Smith trying to get some flexibility in the squad. Rotate as much as he can, if you will. We'll need to use all of them if we still want to be up there at the end of the season, so fair play to him!

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Wed Oct 14, 2015 12:01 pm

Tom_1992 wrote:To be fair to Cook (and I'm not his biggest fan at all) he was more than decent at Scunthorpe


He was, but because he played in a two alongside Bradshaw, which he clearly favours. That doesn't mean he can chuck his dummy and not be bothered when he's not in a two up front though.

Like you say, I doubt/hope he or Baxendale will be here. They both have something to offer in the right position/formation, but aren't as good as other players we have in those positions. We're stronger for having those on the bench than the Taundry's of the past.

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Wed Oct 14, 2015 1:32 pm

Magic Man Fan wrote:
Tom_1992 wrote:To be fair to Cook (and I'm not his biggest fan at all) he was more than decent at Scunthorpe


He was, but because he played in a two alongside Bradshaw, which he clearly favours. That doesn't mean he can chuck his dummy and not be bothered when he's not in a two up front though.

Like you say, I doubt/hope he or Baxendale will be here. They both have something to offer in the right position/formation, but aren't as good as other players we have in those positions. We're stronger for having those on the bench than the Taundry's of the past.


Yeah agree completely, Saturday's bench including; Morris, Lalkovic, Cook and Bax, is much preferable to one of circa 2011 with Peterlin, Gnakpa, Taundry and Jarvis!

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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Wed Oct 14, 2015 3:30 pm

Exile wrote:As an absentee fan what I think I see this season is Smith trying to get some flexibility in the squad. Rotate as much as he can, if you will. We'll need to use all of them if we still want to be up there at the end of the season, so fair play to him!



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Re: Burton Albion (H) League One, 10th October 3pm

Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:42 pm

Louise wrote:Still on a high from Saturday's game. We were superb, passing football, good defensive work with two key players out and we actually gel as a team now.
Sawyers is class, he has Championship quality written all over him. O'Connor is like a player transformed, his expereince really showed on Saturday.
Chambers seems to be more comfortable in the Captain role this season and you can see his influence on Sawyers during the game .
Mantom sadly not yet back to the player he was , hopefully he will in time.
Bradshaw did very little but when required stepped up to the mark.
I thought the standout player was Rico Henry, full of running, inventive and growing in stature before our eyes.
We are finally playing as a team and long may it continue.
The best Ive seen them all season and yes we are top of the league.:)

I got the impression we played better against Crewe, without getting the goals we deserved. In fact, with more clinical finishing in games we really should have won, we'd be well clear at the top by now. Still, who cares as long as we finish top. :mrgreen:

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