Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Reports and reaction from the 2014-2015 season as Walsall finished 3rd in League 1
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- Gripper
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Just a Sunday evening thought...has Matt Preston always played at the back? That header to set up Bradshaw stinks of the big second striker to me.
- cumbria-saddler
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Poor game, but the last five minutes made the three hour journey down worth it.
We missed Chambers so much yesterday, not enough protection from the midfield left us too open, and we lacked his leadership/experience too. Hopefully he and O'Connor have enough time to recover before Sheff Utd in 2 weeks.
Etheridge - Made 4/5 good saves. Probably my man of the match. Next to no options for him to play short at goal kicks or with the ball in his hands. There was barely any movement from our players either at throw ins, we just didn't have options to play it to.
Downing - Poor. Shaky defensively, and poor ball distribution. When he has the ball at his feet he doesn't carry it forward at all, just stands still and usually ended up hitting it long and not reaching a red shirt. Also, wouldn't be my choice to be vice captain.
O'Connor - Didn't have much time on the pitch. Didn't actually see him get injured, just that he was on the floor.
Taylor - Best outfield player yesterday, fairly solid.
Demetriou - Not bad, the only play who attacked open space with the ball until Morris came on.
Kinsella - Didn't play brilliantly, but wasn't awful. Seemed to rush his passes when he had time on the ball, but I guess that will improve with experience. Didn't go to Fleetwood so can't comment on his performance there, but I personally would have started with Bryn Morris, looked okay in his 5 minutes at Chesterfield (even if we were 4-1 up), but I'd expect him to provide a bit more protection, physicality and definitely height than Kinsella did yesterday, in Chambers absence.
Mantom - could be 10 yards further forward when we're attacking, several times in the first half where he was slightly too far back, and not running into the empty space infront of him. Not enough protection for the defence either, and the second half seemed to pass the midfield by.
Henry - was better in the first half, but didn't reach the levels we saw from him earlier in the season. Didn't play badly, but the game was never open enough for us to make use of his pace on the wing.
Sawyers - was never in the game yesterday, sat too deep again. My biggest gripe with him too is that he needs to be more committed in the tackle. Lots of times this season he'll chase down a player with the ball, then just seem to not want to tackle him when he has the chance.
Bradshaw - Didn't get the service until the 89th minute. But his work rate is second to none, you never see him stood still do you? Too many long balls towards him that didn't go above the defenders waists, and other players never passed to where Bradshaw was wanting it yesterday.
Hiwula - I thought he worked very hard first 10/15 minutes with Bradshaw, closing the ball down etc. But after that was anonymous.
Preston - made a few mistakes at the back, mainly with being slightly out of position, but again that's down to inexperience, and recovered from these situations most times. Won most headers at the back, and a good assist and goal for him at the end.
Lalkovic - didn't do a great deal.
Morris - drives at their defence when he picks the ball up. Would like to see him being used more, especially at home.
Ref - absolute cack.
Haven't been to that many home matches this season so obviously haven't been seeing our recent home performances, but from the reaction of lots of our supporters around me you'd think we were in a relegation battle. So much negativity around. I know we were pretty awful yesterday, but the lads are 3rd in the league for god sake! Get behind them and encourage them!
Some of the best ones I heard yesterday -
"I am SICK and tired of coming here week in, week out and seeing this pile of shite!" - that was in the first 25 minutes, I know our home form since new year has been crap, but before Christmas it really wasn't that bad.
"We can't keep carrying awful players like Sawyers, just get rid" - he had a bad game yesterday, but get rid, really?
"Take him off for god sake!" - again about Sawyers, when we had no subs left.
"We'd be better playing with 10 men than with him on the pitch" - again, about Sawyers.
I'm not gonna come on here and say he played well when he didn't, but come on, some of our fans need to look at the bigger picture. We have a relatively small playing budget, we've had one manager leave us for supposed bigger and better things :lol: , we had to sack his replacement because we won 2 in 11 or something, but we're still third in the league with 9 games left. Dread to think what I'd hear if we were 3rd bottom!
One thumping win at Chesterfield, a good win at Fleetwood when perhaps we didn't deserve all 3 points, and a win after a dreadful performance yesterday.. can't have wished for a better reaction to a change of manager. For all the criticism of the performances, you cant criticize the team for not grinding out results. Hopefully we carry on picking points up after the international games and the break doesn't disrupt us too much.
Onwards and upwards!
We missed Chambers so much yesterday, not enough protection from the midfield left us too open, and we lacked his leadership/experience too. Hopefully he and O'Connor have enough time to recover before Sheff Utd in 2 weeks.
Etheridge - Made 4/5 good saves. Probably my man of the match. Next to no options for him to play short at goal kicks or with the ball in his hands. There was barely any movement from our players either at throw ins, we just didn't have options to play it to.
Downing - Poor. Shaky defensively, and poor ball distribution. When he has the ball at his feet he doesn't carry it forward at all, just stands still and usually ended up hitting it long and not reaching a red shirt. Also, wouldn't be my choice to be vice captain.
O'Connor - Didn't have much time on the pitch. Didn't actually see him get injured, just that he was on the floor.
Taylor - Best outfield player yesterday, fairly solid.
Demetriou - Not bad, the only play who attacked open space with the ball until Morris came on.
Kinsella - Didn't play brilliantly, but wasn't awful. Seemed to rush his passes when he had time on the ball, but I guess that will improve with experience. Didn't go to Fleetwood so can't comment on his performance there, but I personally would have started with Bryn Morris, looked okay in his 5 minutes at Chesterfield (even if we were 4-1 up), but I'd expect him to provide a bit more protection, physicality and definitely height than Kinsella did yesterday, in Chambers absence.
Mantom - could be 10 yards further forward when we're attacking, several times in the first half where he was slightly too far back, and not running into the empty space infront of him. Not enough protection for the defence either, and the second half seemed to pass the midfield by.
Henry - was better in the first half, but didn't reach the levels we saw from him earlier in the season. Didn't play badly, but the game was never open enough for us to make use of his pace on the wing.
Sawyers - was never in the game yesterday, sat too deep again. My biggest gripe with him too is that he needs to be more committed in the tackle. Lots of times this season he'll chase down a player with the ball, then just seem to not want to tackle him when he has the chance.
Bradshaw - Didn't get the service until the 89th minute. But his work rate is second to none, you never see him stood still do you? Too many long balls towards him that didn't go above the defenders waists, and other players never passed to where Bradshaw was wanting it yesterday.
Hiwula - I thought he worked very hard first 10/15 minutes with Bradshaw, closing the ball down etc. But after that was anonymous.
Preston - made a few mistakes at the back, mainly with being slightly out of position, but again that's down to inexperience, and recovered from these situations most times. Won most headers at the back, and a good assist and goal for him at the end.
Lalkovic - didn't do a great deal.
Morris - drives at their defence when he picks the ball up. Would like to see him being used more, especially at home.
Ref - absolute cack.
Haven't been to that many home matches this season so obviously haven't been seeing our recent home performances, but from the reaction of lots of our supporters around me you'd think we were in a relegation battle. So much negativity around. I know we were pretty awful yesterday, but the lads are 3rd in the league for god sake! Get behind them and encourage them!
Some of the best ones I heard yesterday -
"I am SICK and tired of coming here week in, week out and seeing this pile of shite!" - that was in the first 25 minutes, I know our home form since new year has been crap, but before Christmas it really wasn't that bad.
"We can't keep carrying awful players like Sawyers, just get rid" - he had a bad game yesterday, but get rid, really?
"Take him off for god sake!" - again about Sawyers, when we had no subs left.
"We'd be better playing with 10 men than with him on the pitch" - again, about Sawyers.
I'm not gonna come on here and say he played well when he didn't, but come on, some of our fans need to look at the bigger picture. We have a relatively small playing budget, we've had one manager leave us for supposed bigger and better things :lol: , we had to sack his replacement because we won 2 in 11 or something, but we're still third in the league with 9 games left. Dread to think what I'd hear if we were 3rd bottom!
One thumping win at Chesterfield, a good win at Fleetwood when perhaps we didn't deserve all 3 points, and a win after a dreadful performance yesterday.. can't have wished for a better reaction to a change of manager. For all the criticism of the performances, you cant criticize the team for not grinding out results. Hopefully we carry on picking points up after the international games and the break doesn't disrupt us too much.
Onwards and upwards!
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Fantastic 5 minutes on Saturday - shame about the other 85 :lol:
I think the team struggled with the shape/formation for the majority of the match. When we broke quickly with pace we seemed to cause their back four plenty of problems - but when things slowed down it seemed to expose the centre of midfield. The reason the last 5 minutes were so much better were that we pushed higher up the pitchand stopped the ball coming out .....
Whilst i dont think Kinsella did anything wrong, i think that Bryn Morris should have been given a run in the middle of the park.
Jordi didnt seem to know where he was playing - his best moments were when he had the ball driving at the centre of their defence. And then he seemed to revert to a right midfield position :?:
Massive three points UTS
I think the team struggled with the shape/formation for the majority of the match. When we broke quickly with pace we seemed to cause their back four plenty of problems - but when things slowed down it seemed to expose the centre of midfield. The reason the last 5 minutes were so much better were that we pushed higher up the pitchand stopped the ball coming out .....
Whilst i dont think Kinsella did anything wrong, i think that Bryn Morris should have been given a run in the middle of the park.
Jordi didnt seem to know where he was playing - his best moments were when he had the ball driving at the centre of their defence. And then he seemed to revert to a right midfield position :?:
Massive three points UTS
- Wragbyred
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
cumbria-saddler wrote:Some of the best ones I heard yesterday -
"We can't keep carrying awful players like Sawyers, just get rid" - he had a bad game yesterday, but get rid, really?
"Take him off for god sake!" - again about Sawyers, when we had no subs left.
"We'd be better playing with 10 men than with him on the pitch" - again, about Sawyers.
You travel all that way and end up sitting next to otis!! :wink:
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Ancient Moaner - Site Addict
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Congrats 'Cumbria' that really is some drive to be at the Bescot for a home match!
Many of us NUTS won't make the effort very often because of our atrocious home form, preferring going to the numerous away matches in this region where we seem to play more acceptable footy and generally achieve better results! (which, after being a Walsall supporter since the early sixties is indeed a rare occurrence!).
You are a mossive hero, a bit like our transatlantic, and far Eastern followers. :mrgreen:
Many of us NUTS won't make the effort very often because of our atrocious home form, preferring going to the numerous away matches in this region where we seem to play more acceptable footy and generally achieve better results! (which, after being a Walsall supporter since the early sixties is indeed a rare occurrence!).
You are a mossive hero, a bit like our transatlantic, and far Eastern followers. :mrgreen:
- cumbria-saddler
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Ancient Moaner wrote:Congrats 'Cumbria' that really is some drive to be at the Bescot for a home match!
Many of us NUTS won't make the effort very often because of our atrocious home form, preferring going to the numerous away matches in this region where we seem to play more acceptable footy and generally achieve better results! (which, after being a Walsall supporter since the early sixties is indeed a rare occurrence!).
You are a mossive hero, a bit like our transatlantic, and far Eastern followers. :mrgreen:
Cheers AM, I mostly go to the northern away games but make 3-5 home games a year too. And yeah, the drive down from Cumbria is a bit excessive.. And not very pleasant after a defeat! Haha
But moved to Leeds last month so it's a little closer down to bescot now.
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Cheesebag - Site Addict
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Wragbyred wrote:cumbria-saddler wrote:Some of the best ones I heard yesterday -
"We can't keep carrying awful players like Sawyers, just get rid" - he had a bad game yesterday, but get rid, really?
"Take him off for god sake!" - again about Sawyers, when we had no subs left.
"We'd be better playing with 10 men than with him on the pitch" - again, about Sawyers.
Thick twerp!
- philthesaddler
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Watch those highlights again, specifically Preston's goal - look at the reactions of the fans standing just behind the Colchester goal...
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Priceless
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Priceless
- usa_saddler
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Ancient Moaner wrote:Congrats 'Cumbria' that really is some drive to be at the Bescot for a home match!
Many of us NUTS won't make the effort very often because of our atrocious home form, preferring going to the numerous away matches in this region where we seem to play more acceptable footy and generally achieve better results! (which, after being a Walsall supporter since the early sixties is indeed a rare occurrence!).
You are a mossive hero, a bit like our transatlantic, and far Eastern followers. :mrgreen:
AM, Did I miss something? Could Walsall be playing some away fixtures in my region (USA)? Should I expect Championship or League 1 away fixtures over here on the other side of the pond, or is this more of a pre-season warm-up visit this summer? Or heaven forbid is my region not included?
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Can't decide if a future championship fixture or a promotion play-off final return trip to Wembley is more my cup of tea???
Hope all is well with you and your family!!!
USA Saddler Supporter's Association
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Leatherman - Site Addict
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
philthesaddler wrote:Watch those highlights again, specifically Preston's goal - look at the reactions of the fans standing just behind the Colchester goal...
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Priceless
The roar of the crowd and Lalkovic's reaction is better.
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saddlersjse - UTS Regular
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Can't help but feel a bit sorry for the Colchester fans there. How many times have we been in that position over the years?
That said, I wouldn't change anything about that comeback :lol: Somehow felt even better than Gillingham this season given that we were pretty poor for 85 minutes this time. And given that 10 minutes before, Wigan had scored their winner so we needed that on so many levels.
Terrific season. Proof that a good chunk of the blame for the dip in form lay with SOD.
That said, I wouldn't change anything about that comeback :lol: Somehow felt even better than Gillingham this season given that we were pretty poor for 85 minutes this time. And given that 10 minutes before, Wigan had scored their winner so we needed that on so many levels.
Terrific season. Proof that a good chunk of the blame for the dip in form lay with SOD.
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Ancient Moaner - Site Addict
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
saddlersjse wrote:Can't help but feel a bit sorry for the Colchester fans there. How many times have we been in that position over the years?
That said, I wouldn't change anything about that comeback :lol: Somehow felt even better than Gillingham this season given that we were pretty poor for 85 minutes this time. And given that 10 minutes before, Wigan had scored their winner so we needed that on so many levels.
Terrific season. Proof that a good chunk of the blame for the dip in form lay with SOD.
Agreed, what was with that bloke, he seemed intent on spoiling our season with his negative boring tactics, so glad the Board proved to have round 'uns by getting rid in time, to try to save our great season.
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Ancient Moaner - Site Addict
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
usa_saddler wrote:Ancient Moaner wrote:Congrats 'Cumbria' that really is some drive to be at the Bescot for a home match!
Many of us NUTS won't make the effort very often because of our atrocious home form, preferring going to the numerous away matches in this region where we seem to play more acceptable footy and generally achieve better results! (which, after being a Walsall supporter since the early sixties is indeed a rare occurrence!).
You are a mossive hero, a bit like our transatlantic, and far Eastern followers. :mrgreen:
AM, Did I miss something? Could Walsall be playing some away fixtures in my region (USA)? Should I expect Championship or League 1 away fixtures over here on the other side of the pond, or is this more of a pre-season warm-up visit this summer? Or heaven forbid is my region not included?
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Can't decide if a future championship fixture or a promotion play-off final return trip to Wembley is more my cup of tea???
Hope all is well with you and your family!!!
USA Saddler Supporter's Association
So good to keep hearing from you on these threads, great to know that we have a truly Worldwide following!! :D :D
Looking increasingly likely that our route to the Championship will be via the play off's, so another Wembley appearance may well be on the cards, lets hope that if we do, two things will happen...1) that you can make it across again. 2) that the team actually 'turns up' on this occasion!!
Here's hoping that one day we may all meet again, hopefully under winning circumstances!! :D :D
- usa_saddler
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Re: Colchester United (H) March 19th, 3pm
Ancient Moaner wrote:usa_saddler wrote:Ancient Moaner wrote:Congrats 'Cumbria' that really is some drive to be at the Bescot for a home match!
Many of us NUTS won't make the effort very often because of our atrocious home form, preferring going to the numerous away matches in this region where we seem to play more acceptable footy and generally achieve better results! (which, after being a Walsall supporter since the early sixties is indeed a rare occurrence!).
You are a mossive hero, a bit like our transatlantic, and far Eastern followers. :mrgreen:
AM, Did I miss something? Could Walsall be playing some away fixtures in my region (USA)? Should I expect Championship or League 1 away fixtures over here on the other side of the pond, or is this more of a pre-season warm-up visit this summer? Or heaven forbid is my region not included?
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Can't decide if a future championship fixture or a promotion play-off final return trip to Wembley is more my cup of tea???
Hope all is well with you and your family!!!
USA Saddler Supporter's Association
So good to keep hearing from you on these threads, great to know that we have a truly Worldwide following!! :D :D
Looking increasingly likely that our route to the Championship will be via the play off's, so another Wembley appearance may well be on the cards, lets hope that if we do, two things will happen...1) that you can make it across again. 2) that the team actually 'turns up' on this occasion!!
Here's hoping that one day we may all meet again, hopefully under winning circumstances!! :D :D
Hopefully next time around the two are mutually exclusive - if I show up - the team shows up and wins!!! Already took a sneak peak on dates, fares, and hotels. Still pulling for automatic so I can come back for some Championship matches next season and maybe bring the family over...
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