Chesterfield (H) League One, 17th Oct 3pm

[sallian]

Oh well onto the next one.
Lot of people calling for Lalkovic to be in the team. Is it just me that sees zero end product from him. Yes he is quick, yes he can do multiple step overs but as to anything else.....?

it doesn't help when being left on the bench all the time

[Gripper]

Cook, another 45 minutes, another meh performance! Okay he hit the bar with a header, but 3 other players did that.

The fact that the only plus point you can find about a striker is putting a simple chance against the bar tells you everything about him.

Bad day at the office today, Bradshaw was bullied, Chesterfield were class at putting our strengths to bed...aka playing down the wings through Rico Henry, he was basically shut down for 90 minutes. Preston was clearly at fault for their first, the second was simply a case of switching off during Etheridge getting strapped up. Fair play to Preston at the end though, glad he can finish, bet Cook is even more glad.

Fair play to Chesterfield they did a job on us but they are crap, another week another bang average league one team comes to the bescot, when will we see a decent side?

[Darth Vader]

Didn't sound like our day, few knocks and a nasty one for Sam by the sounds, which is concerning.

We move on.

[scott_powell]

Poor performance but we had chances. Hit the woodwork 4 times and they pulled off an absolute world class save from Bradshaw's volley. We didn't deserve the win so I can't really say much else. Too many players had off days.

Support in the upper block 4 was great. Lets see more of you up there against Gillingham. Non stop singing throughout.

[Barren Flak]

Frustrating performance, but can't fault the effort.

On a different day we'd have seen them off, but poor goal to concede inside 10 minutes.

A good few players not at their best, but none could really be accused of not putting a shift in. Backing them to bounce back in the next two away games.

We're always* pap at home.






*Usually probably more accurate. As Cov and Burton will testify.

[CooperTheSaddler]

I'm not sure we were as bad as many of our fans are making out, lots of shots, Tommy Lee has made a couple of brilliant saves, hit the woodwork a couple of times too. Plenty of positives to take from that, we keep our heads up and go again Tuesday!

[Mazza01]

Sorry but we don't score enough goals to mount a serious challenge for automatic promotion, play offs?? maybe.

Also Bradshaw must be getting frustrated, you could count on one hand the amount of times he's touched the ball over the last two games such a waste.

[reedswood sadler]

This was typical walsall after last weeks excellent performance today was very poor, passing even when not under pressure was really bad and marking for both goals was poor.

We missed o'conner today not just because he is probably best CB in division but nobody there to organize defensive line hope he's not out long as along with manton out and possibly taylor we will struggle.

Hitting bar and post plus good display by keeper should not be used as excuse for another display of poor goalscoring, I feel sorry for bradshaw who finds space with his arm up only to be ignored for another crossfield pass.

After all this we are still in a great position with more points and goal difference than we could have hoped for at start of season.

[PT]

Sorry but we don't score enough goals to mount a serious challenge for automatic promotion, play offs?? maybe.

Also Bradshaw must be getting frustrated, you could count on one hand the amount of times he's touched the ball over the last two games such a waste.

Agree with that. The freedom we played with in August where we were scoring for fun from lots of sources has been replaced by a more typically pragmatic Smith style. Bradshaw is becomming more and more isolated. We scored four on two occassions in August and got at least a brace in all of the other games bar Oldham. We're averaging less than a goal a game subsequently.

[Walsallone]

We weren't at our best today but to say we were poor is over reaction. We paid for a poor start when,perhaps understandably the defence took time to settle without its chief organiser. It proved what I said earlier we need another CH if we are to sustain a challenge. All the players worked hard but some key players were not on top form...it happens to all teams. It is how we respond on Tuesday that is important perhaps without two of the spine mentioned earlier.
One further point"Sallion" if you don't go to any matches please stop sending detailed analysis...most of which is complete rubbish. Not surprising since you admitted a few weeks ago that you hadn't seen us play for years!!!!!

[SoccerHQ]

Haven't seen the game but reading the report and seems the two goals conceded came from unmarked headers.

It's a credit to him considering how poor he was for half of last season that O'Connor has improved so much he's one of the most important players in the squad and seems his absence was very much noted today.

I did warn about this yesterday, him not being there would destabilse things. As I said before I'd be right on the phone first thing Monday morning ringing clubs up who have decent CBs on the bench. Get one in on loan for a month, this position is too good to waste on rookies.

[Walsallone]

SoccerHQ the second goal came about because the goalkeeper was injured in conceding the corner and just after having his knee bandaged failed to come for a cross he would normally have caught. Macgillivray warmed up in case he was needed but it was decided to stay with Etheridge. It was a difficult decision to make to be fair but I think I would have swopped keepers. Dean said after the injury required 6/7 stitches!

[WarsawPact]

Our passing was off from the start - how many times did we kick the ball into touch in the first half?

Apparently, Mantom has damaged his upper ankle, so at least it's not his knee again.

[Welsh_Saddler]

We could have been playing that game for another couple of hours and still not scored a second goal. I'm sure the players didn't intend to give an impression of a lackadaisical approach, but I have to say that one or two appeared to be of the opinion that all they had to do was turn up and we would get three points. We certainly missed O'Connor but you can't give opposition strikers a free header (I mean, a REALLY free header) and not expect to get punished for it.

How many times did we start to build from our own half only for a pass to go straight into touch? I lost count in the end. Rico was marooned on the left wing. I applaud Jason Demetrious's attacking instincts, but when he goes marauding upfield who's responsible for covering his back? As far as our forward play was concerned we were out-muscled (correction...out-wrestled) time after time, I'm amazed Bradshaw kept his cool and didn't lash out at his marker. Romaine Sawyers has made the role of play-maker his own in this side, but all too often his little flicks were misplaced and the movements broke down.

A definite bad day at the office then - fortunately our League position hasn't suffered irreparable damage, and Burton losing 4-0 certainly helped. However, with two games in the next seven days Dean Smith needs to shore things up - if both O'Connor and Mantom are unavailable an emergency loan might be in order because it would be a shame to drift down the table after what has been our best start for years.

Onwards and upwards.........

[Ancient Moaner]

I'm not sure we were as bad as many of our fans are making out, lots of shots, Tommy Lee has made a couple of brilliant saves, hit the woodwork a couple of times too. Plenty of positives to take from that, we keep our heads up and go again Tuesday!

Couldn't possibly be a worse 'go again' match for us, Barnsley are currently as crud as Chesterfield, but what's the betting that we get truly scagged again on Tuesday, AKA Burton today!
Those brave individuals who were there last year certainly won't be there again, unless they are masochists that is! So it will be a poor away following for a second defeat in a row against 'lowly' opposition. :(

[hullsaddler]

Couldn't possibly be a worse 'go again' match for us, Barnsley are currently as crud as Chesterfield, but what's the betting that we get truly scagged again on Tuesday, AKA Burton today!
Those brave individuals who were there last year certainly won't be there again, unless they are masochists that is! So it will be a poor away following for a second defeat in a row against 'lowly' opposition. :(

It was awful last year but am still really looking forward to it!

[Wragbyred]

Agree with that. The freedom we played with in August where we were scoring for fun from lots of sources has been replaced by a more typically pragmatic Smith style. Bradshaw is becomming more and more isolated. We scored four on two occassions in August and got at least a brace in all of the other games bar Oldham. We're averaging less than a goal a game subsequently.

"Typically pragmatic Smith style" really?not the games I've seen this season.
August, start of the season, everyone sees us as relegation fodder so it was easy to play our football.
Move on a couple of weeks and we are seen as one of the top teams, and teams change their tactics against us. It's nothing to do with any change of attitude in match tactics.
The question now is can Smith cope with this aspect of management?

Who knows, but we are still in the promotion places, and in prime position for a play off place. Would we accepted that at the start of the season? I think so.
So please, people stop being so negative and move onto the next game.
Barnsley away, 3 points? Nailed on :wink:

[tinned]

Bad day at the office today. Passing was woeful at times. We seemed at least a yard slower than them. We will not score enough to finish in the top 2. Bradshaw is being criminally misused. Constant high balls to him with his back to goal are a complete waste of time. We need to go back to the basics we used in August.

[tinned]

Oh, and if Cook is a professional footballer then so am I, absolute pointless tosh.

[IHTC.]

Our passing was off from the start - how many times did we kick the ball into touch in the first half?

Apparently, Mantom has damaged his upper ankle, so at least it's not his knee again.

Anyone who's got 2 eyes knew it was his ankle, God knows why anyone thought it was his knee.

[IHTC.]

Oh, and if Cook is a professional footballer then so am I, absolute pointless tosh.

Flanagan was very poor but at least he did something whereas cook is just gash. How and Why Smith feels he's a game changer is beyond me and I assume most Walsall fans. League 2 player at best.

[boringteacher]

Just a reality check ffs.

If you were actually were there, 3 woodworks + the best save I've seen this season (Bradshaw 1st half) would normally equal a win against the deeply mediocre opposition today. We weren't very good going forward (Chambers and Sawyers were both only average for the first time I've seen them this season), but the Preston hate mail on here is why a lot of our players can't wait to quit us when they are good enough to move on. Take any of Sawyers, Chambers or O'Conor from the team then the chances of us winning sinks like the Titanic. Were we not the best English defence in the 4 divisions until today - which shows just how good Baldie is?

More bothering to me today were the injuries. Got a perspective ffs - I expected a bottom 8 struggle this year personally. I'd be surprised if we didn't make the top 6 at this stage.

[PT]

Agree with that. The freedom we played with in August where we were scoring for fun from lots of sources has been replaced by a more typically pragmatic Smith style. Bradshaw is becomming more and more isolated. We scored four on two occassions in August and got at least a brace in all of the other games bar Oldham. We're averaging less than a goal a game subsequently.

"Typically pragmatic Smith style" really?not the games I've seen this season.
August, start of the season, everyone sees us as relegation fodder so it was easy to play our football.
Move on a couple of weeks and we are seen as one of the top teams, and teams change their tactics against us. It's nothing to do with any change of attitude in match tactics:

I disagree.

We have changed our tactics to a three in midfield whereas at the start of the season we were playing with three attacking players. This meant that we could score goals like Forde's against Coventry which in our recent formation would require Flanagan, Chambers or Mantom to be on the shoulder of the last defender in open play. It doesn't happen. Not because as you suggest other managers have worked us out. It is because that since Bury we have been more determined not to concede first than we are to score first so we have gone for a smother in midfield rather than starting with a more attacking option.

Think of Sawyers's goal at Blackpool. Again, someone other than Brashaw on the shoulder of the last defender. Again that doesn't happen now because he is having to come deeper and deeper because he is the only link between defence and attack when we turn the ball over. Our wing-backs will inevitably be deep when the opposition are in possession as the "back" part of their job takes precedence.

The way we are currently seeking to score goals seems to be that we either hope Bradshaw can slip the three defenders marking him, we score a 25 yard belter or one of our wing-backs gets around the sides unnoticed. We are good enough to do these things from time to time but it is really low percentages and lower percentages than having Sawyers plus A N other playing at the top of the pitch in support of Tom. As a result it feels like we're 10 yards deeper than we were in August, which again feels like a choice we have made rather than anybody upping their game against us.

Don't worry about me being negative. I can't make Barnsley in the week, but will be at Colchester next week as positive as ever. I just hope I see us playing with a bit of the flair we saw earlier in the season.

[Walsallone]

It says something BORINGTEACHER that we can hit the woodwork 3 times,a keeper can make a super save and yet we were poor going forward!!! We weren't at our best but 16 shots tells you we weren't that bad!!

[WFC_Rob]

We just weren't at it today and looked sloppy from back to front. Mantom and Flanagan struggled to play the simplest of passes to another red shirt all afternoon, and the often omnipresent Adam Chambers was nowhere to be seen for large periods. Part of me is happy to give Chesterfield credit for a job well done on us, but another wonders whether we were that bit too predictable to play against. Arguably one of the key ingredients to our strong start to the season was Smith's ability to keep his opposite number guessing by switching his systems around, but the 3-5-1-1 or whatever you want to call it didn't work today.

The most glaring error of the afternoon was playing Preston as the right one of the three centre halves. Could he not have just come straight into the middle, leaving Downing in the same position he played so well in last week? I think that played a big part in their first goal.

Still, to take the positives, their goalie was easily their man of the match and despite playing poorly, we could have taken something from the game. Onwards and upwards.

[WarsawPact]

Our passing was off from the start - how many times did we kick the ball into touch in the first half?

Apparently, Mantom has damaged his upper ankle, so at least it's not his knee again.

Anyone who's got 2 eyes knew it was his ankle, God knows why anyone thought it was his knee.

Such a shame there isn't a "Like" button on this messageboard - you could have shoved it up your arse (sideways).

[kshammer]

Most of the sensible stuff has been said already so i'll not go into too much depth.

Preston looked nervous.
Mantom, Flanagan and Taylor were abysmal.
Bradshaw (shock, horror... i'm going to be critical) is no where near last seasons form.
Etheridge fudge about too much.
The only threat was from Romaine and Rico.

I'm off to drink more wine.

[Guest]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Q7Lo8l00s&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[leics_saddler]

I'll tell you what, I'm sick of seeing 'bad day at the office' and 'top of the league, get a grip.'

Dean Smith was out thought today by a manager who has the tactical awareness of an amoeba.
Every side in the division, will be lumping it up to a big donkey from now on.

I couldn't give a bloody monkeys if we've had 16 shots, I'm not Sallian.
I'm rather more concerned about shipping two at home and it's not like they were scored by Pele and Messi!

We look great against football teams, but as soon as we face hoofballers we look spineless.
I hope I'm wrong but we'll know a lot more after Barnsley, especially if think back to last season's effort there.

[IHTC.]

Our passing was off from the start - how many times did we kick the ball into touch in the first half?

Apparently, Mantom has damaged his upper ankle, so at least it's not his knee again.

Anyone who's got 2 eyes knew it was his ankle, God knows why anyone thought it was his knee.

Such a shame there isn't a "Like" button on this messageboard - you could have shoved it up your arse (sideways).

Ankles and knees are easy to get mixed up I suppose.