AFC Wimbledon (H) 6th August, 3pm

[The Bosted Slab]

Very pleased to have won, which is obviously the most important thing.

I can't say that I enjoyed the performance, although offensively it could be exciting this season.

Our central defence was very poor today, but hopefully that will improve because more clinical teams would have scored more against us today.

Early days and I think we will develop into a decent competitive side in due course.

[Ancient Moaner]

Romaine Sawyers played the 90min for Brentford, but ended up on the losing side 2-1 at Huddersfield.

Sawyers not tracking back..helping Clarke....

Sawyers gives the ball away again

Sawyers has to adjust big time

Not a fan favourite yet then.....

How could you suggest such a thing!! :wink: The Sawyers lovers will be in your street very shortly, marching with banners, pitch forks and burning torches! :mrgreen:

[Ancient Moaner]

Very pleased to have won, which is obviously the most important thing.

I can't say that I enjoyed the performance, although offensively it could be exciting this season.

Our central defence was very poor today, but hopefully that will improve because more clinical teams would have scored more against us today.

Early days and I think we will develop into a decent competitive side in due course.

Seems like the performance was not as overwhelming as the score suggested to us non attendees then?

[JonnyOwen]

Plenty of hard work and energy but a little shaky. The lads really did give 110% though, especially from Simeon Jackson and the two in midfield, Chambers and Osbourne.

Good overall performance to build off of though, when these lads gel a little more we could really be fantastic.

Promising start but still work to be done :D

[scott_powell]

Jackson is better than Bradshaw.
Osbourne is a tank.
Oztumer is a wizard.
Bakayoko is a beast.

I thought we were okay. We look a lot more competitive in the centre of the pitch. Henry kept getting too close to his man which was a little annoying.

It was to see us competitive against a big physical side. We more than matched them.

Ref was a complete nonce.

Upper block 4 were in fine voice again! Great to see more faces up there.

[SWS1]

We'm top :D :D :D After 45 minutes... :mrgreen:

Typical! Top until added time :( Now we ay top :(
But a great way to start the season :D
Maybe not much reason for the doom and gloom - new boys come up with the goods :D
UTS
:D :D :D :D
Looking forward to the reports :D

[SWS1]

We'm top :D :D :D After 45 minutes... :mrgreen:

Ah but can we stay there after 4140 minutes!! :lol: :lol:

Great start, gewin to Oldham on Saturday can't wait!

We owe them one after last season's rubbish performance there - one that arguably cost us automatic promotion.

ANY of the games we day win or draw cost us auto promo :evil:
My own favourite hated result was Swindon where we murdered them and contrived to lose 2 - 0. That would have seen us there (like any of the other adverse results, as I said).
Still, we started well this season so EXCELSIOR! (That's Latin for UTS :wink: )

[Barren Flak]

Nice to win a game via set-pieces.

Etheridge saves in the first-half mossive.

Osbourne/Osborn/Osbourn MOTM for moi.

Going to be goals a plenty at both ends this season based on that performance.

Encouraged.

[JonnyOwen]

Highlights:
http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/10525920/walsall-3-1-wimbledon

[longdogs]

When O'Connor was waiting to come back on after treatment, anyone know why did the referee make the free kick be retaken?

[Harry]

When O'Connor was waiting to come back on after treatment, anyone know why did the referee make the free kick be retaken?

It was taken before he had blown the whistle, after telling the kicker to wait for the whistle.

[SoccerHQ]

Very happy with what I saw.

What seems to have passed people by this summer is the club have worked hard to recruit a proven set of league one players....Edwards, Moussa, Flo, Simeon Jackson.

O.k some of those haven't had good seasons for a while but they wouldn't be at Walsall if they had stormers last year and some of those have played very well at this level previously.

Not everything about today was perfect...Wimbledon really should've scored in the first half to make it 1-1 and then that's a completely different game but plenty of positives today.

Ozzy...will win POTY imo. Going to be a lot of fun to watch him this season. I keep thinking today it was Milan out there....but actual end product made me realise it wasn't.

Jackson. Wasn't keen on this signing but no problem if he keeps proving me wrong. He is pacey and direct and two excellent poaching 6 yard finishes.

Baka....blimey what are they feeding him nowadays? Excellent play for the third goal and looked lively in other spells.

Edwards- Nice solid composed debut. Got forward well at times which was pleasing.

Downsides were I thought Rico was pretty poor tbh even before he conceded the penalty. Was beaten a lot down the left so hope that mind is still concentrating on Walsall.

Rest of back 4 was shaky against the high ball, not sure McCarthy will be a huge upgrade on Downing personally.

Morris- Was in and out. From what we saw last season his future is probably centrally but will have to bide his time to get a chance there.

On that evidence Wimbledon will struggle to stay up but that's the thing isn't it, Walsall have had a big problem putting away teams like that over the last few seasons.

I think this season might be a flip, Walsall will put away most of bottom half teams home and away but will struggle against the better teams and tactics as Whitney tended to do in the run in and play offs last season.

Still should be a lot of fun though. Good buzz around the ground today, lovely 21st min tribute and no feeling of play off hangover at all.

[longdogs]

When O'Connor was waiting to come back on after treatment, anyone know why did the referee make the free kick be retaken?

It was taken before he had blown the whistle, after telling the kicker to wait for the whistle.

That makes sense. Cheers.

[Mazza01]

To many people read way to much into the first game of the season. Wimbledon came full of confidence in what was a huge occasion for them.

3-1 is a good win without out record signing and Moussa sat on the bench!!

Take the positives people.. We were never going to lose that game.

UTS

[Ancient Moaner]

We'm top :D :D :D After 45 minutes... :mrgreen:

Ah but can we stay there after 4140 minutes!! :lol: :lol:

Great start, gewin to Oldham on Saturday can't wait!

We owe them one after last season's rubbish performance there - one that arguably cost us automatic promotion.

ANY of the games we day win or draw cost us auto promo :evil:
My own favourite hated result was Swindon where we murdered them and contrived to lose 2 - 0. That would have seen us there (like any of the other adverse results, as I said).
Still, we started well this season so EXCELSIOR! (That's Latin for UTS :wink: )

10/10 for effort and enthusiasm, 0/10 for Latin declension! :lol: :lol:

[reedswood sadler]

A good result against a physical but poor Wimbledon side who were helped by their 12th man the ref,he gave every decision to the Wombles and yet their fans wanted more.

Excellent backing from fans in upper tier.

Hangover from last season why do we come out 2nd half and play so slow allowing opponents a way back.

Man for man new recruits are as good as or better than those who left.I was a big fan of Sawyers but think Ozzi will be an improvment and can never be called lazy.

[dobbster71]

Great result, but a bang average performance.

We didn't dictate the pace of the game or control possession. I thought both sides were scrappy when they had possession.
Aerially AFC bossed us, which is worrying considering that aerial balls are a staple of the lower leagues. Apart from Osbourne, Preston & Bakayoko we are a vertically challenged team.
AFC should have scored 2 more goals; one missed sitter the other only kept out thanks to Etheridge.

You can't draw conclusions after one competitive game but we'll need to show more composure in future matches otherwise it could be a long season ahead.

[m&m]

Great result and always good to start the new campaign with a win.

It really wasn't very convincing though against a fairly poor Wimbledon team.The centre of defence looked weak. O,Connor hardly won a header and MCarthy looked pretty gittery and indecisive to me.How people can say he's better than Downing is incredible.

[PT]

Ten out of ten result, seven out of ten performance. Decent crowd too.

I expect we'll see a bit of churn in the team on Tuesday given the knocks today. I suspect Etheridge, Flo and JOC may all sit out Tuesday and it wouldn't surprise me to see Baka and Dobson given starts too.

[SoccerHQ]

It wasn't that bad.

How many times have Walsall scored 3 times at home in last couple of seasons out of interest?

Infact how many times have Walsall actually won home games in last couple of season as that's one good thing you can say about Whitney, he knows how to win home games. His record is something like 5 wins in 7 games so miles better than what even Smith was producing.

Today was one of those nice occasions when Walsall scored goals against the run of play. Wimbledon were looking good for 1-1 and the 2nd goal really deflated them, same with third when they were pressuring strongly.

I thought the team played good possession in spells, not up to the standard of first half of last season but exciting given likes of Moussa and Markis still have to come into the equation.

And the sun was shining.

[Optimistic]

I think that was a good first league game performance for a new set of players. As soccerhq pointed out we used to struggle against direct teams like today and with big players in the box when the crosses came in we did well to keep them out.

However from what I saw today, I think we will perform against the better sides as we have previously. Wimbledon will provide a tough opposition for a lot of teams and there could be a few shocks by them.

Its all good so far.

[chunkster]

well the electrician has only just left :shock: . good job i didn't get my tickets friday like i always do. looks like we missed a cracker. i will take a 3-1 win after not playing to our best every time :wink: . jackson has scored as many goals today as he did in his last 28 games :lol: and it looks like baka is a hiwula type player but better :) really chuffed with that result. not bad to get a win without playing well. at the end of last season with all the players leaving i was a bit disillusioned. so in the words translated from the french phrase "le roi est mort, vive le roi" "THE SADDLERS ARE DEAD. LONG LIVE THE SADDLERS" :D

[Walsallone]

Having missed the match (I was watching England grind Pakistan into the dust!) I am somewhat surprised by some of the comments on here. We have a new team,it will take time to gel especially defensively ,who scored 2 very good goals and won 3-1. In my view that is a good start...lets hope we can keep it up as the season progresses .

[Greg Oxley]

Personally think considering the vast changes in personnel today was a solid start to the campaign. Exciting, intricate football played at times, Morris, Oztumer and Flo connected well with Jackson's movement and occupying of the centre halves being akin, if not better to Bradshaw - he's certainly much faster.

On today's performance, Oztumer is going to be a real fans favourite and IMO will eclipse the achievements of Sawyers and offer much more to the team.

Special mention for Osbourne and Flo who both seem to have put their injuries behind them - Osbourne a shrewd bit of recruitment - seemingly very popular amongst the group and with the desired leadership qualities Whitney was looking for.

Bakayoko - fantastic run and cross , appreciated by fans and team mates a like - makes a real change having a bench full of options .

We go again.

[Pedagogue]

I think that most points have been covered in the posts above. The Wombles are a hard-working side with 6 or 7 tall, powerful players and they play to their strengths - a hark back to the "Crazy Gang" days, in fact. "Route One Football" is not easy on the eye but it is legal and often effective and a style with which we have struggled in the past. It was quite clear that they, like all the other teams in this division, had done their homework on us. All their attacks came down their right, our left, flank. They targeted Henry because of his lack of height and slender build. He always had to deal with bigger, stronger players who tried to bully him. The referee did not give him enough protection, in my opinion, and Henry conceded the penalty (and it WAS a penalty!) out of sheer frustration. To caution him, though, was totally unnecessary, particularly in the light of the treatment that he had received.

As a team, we are not very strong in the air and I'm sure that the coaching team is working on tactics to counter-act this. Otherwise, we will struggle against the big boys of this division - again!

[firreblade]

Good start too the season and off the mark with 3 points, ‘what more can you ask for’. Both teams were a bit nervous but thought Walsall were far the better side with the Wimbos playing the long high balls to their forwards which are typical of the Wimbos of the old and now the new it seems, personally I wouldn’t pay to watch them. Good performances from Ozzy, Jackson, Morris, Osbourne, Etheridge and Rico who won the battle against Taylor who is twice his size excluding the cleaver dive he done and won the penalty, it will be a learning curve for Rico nevertheless could have been a contender for MOTM if it weren’t for the hard working Jackson and his two goals. The two centre halves struggled with the high balls and hardly won a duel, not too sure about McCarthy but time will tell. Baka looked dangerous when he came on, I really like this lad and think he will become a great player but must prove it this year. UTS

[WFC_Rob]

A lot of encouragement can be taken from today - largely because we won't play a side as big and direct as that every week, and I expect we'll keep the ball better once the team starts to gel too.

The main difference between this side and last year's is that this one is much more direct - and very effective with it. The criticism of Smith's Walsall side was often that it overplayed or passed sideways too much, which I can't see being the case under Whitney with this team. Much like Bradshaw, Jackson occupies defenders, keeps them on their toes, but also looks for that run in behind too. The space Oztumer will get if we keep playing like that should allow him to do some serious damage.

To be fair to Wimbledon, the way they play means they'll always give teams a scare. The quality was lacking from them a bit, but they out our back four under one hell of a lot of pressure at times. I actually thought we stood up to it fairly well, even if Rico got done too easily a couple of times.

The bench looks strong too. Our record signing won't be getting a look-in at this rate. :D

[Guest]

"Goal rush" tonight on Channel 5, 10pm should be worth watching!!

If you missed it.

http://hls.dvr.gv.filmon.com/schdld/22/31/218/2016.08.06/3602783.mp4

[chestersaddler]

Listened on Sadsplayer and eye witness reports seem to concur with their commentary. Great to kick off with a win, particularly against a direct side, which we have tended to struggle against in recent seasons. Augers well for the season as we will no doubt improve as the new team settles in.

UTS :D

[Whitters]

"Goal rush" tonight on Channel 5, 10pm should be worth watching!!

If you missed it.

http://hls.dvr.gv.filmon.com/schdld/22/31/218/2016.08.06/3602783.mp4

Many thanks!