Swindon Town (H) Monday Apr 17th, 3pm

[Cowshed]

Thought there was nothing between the two teams for much of the game which is not good given the position Swindon are in.

Ozzie injected some quality that was the difference

Whitney knows how not to lose in this division, indeed only the top 6 teams have fewer defeats, and this may keep us up next year, however, if he loses ozzy in the summer we don't look like we have the fire power to win too many.

[coop63]

Sorry to say it but the only positive for me today (apart from a debateable 3 point performance) was a clean sheet for MCG...

Drab performance by 2 poor sides trying but with very little quality anywhere on the pitch.. O'Connell had what has to be his worst game in a Walsall shirt and Preston made so many gaffes that against a better side would have led to an embarrassing score line..
Their No 7 was a threat every time he got the ball in our half and our lads simply couldn't deal with him - again, against a better quality opposition it could have been a very different outcome..

It was good to see JW at least make a sub move to mix things up when we were clearly ineffective going forward but frankly, although Ozzie clearly made a difference he must have decided he would only pass when absolutely necessary..

As mentioned by others, the shooting from Morris proved largely ineffective but I was watching them in the warm-up and they looked sharp as tacks in the shooting practice so why they can only find the opposing goalie in the middle of the goal in open play us beyond me :shock:

UTS

[SoccerHQ]

In the last month Swindon have won 1-0 away to Fleetwood and 1-0 at home to Millwall, two teams in the top 6.

We see it time and again sides who look clueless for 3/4 of the season and suddenly wake up in March when relegation is imminent and start performing really well. Walsall in 2010/11 after all....

[PT]

Most interesting for me (listen up PT) was Whitney actually making a tactical change with a sub on the hour that actually improved things. Ozzy came on and played as a false stiker.

.

Yes! He did something different. And got a different (better) outcome. Who'd have thunk it?

Nice to win again. Clean sheet to boot.

Blues or Forest might be heading our way which makes it a decent day all round.

[Walsallone]

We deserved our win but made hard work of it mainly because we need more players who are able to score goals. Swindon were not very good but worked hard but only forced our goalie into one very good save.

[Guest]

Sorry to say it but the only positive for me today (apart from a debateable 3 point performance) was a clean sheet for MCG...

Drab performance by 2 poor sides trying but with very little quality anywhere on the pitch.. O'Connell had what has to be his worst game in a Walsall shirt and Preston made so many gaffes that against a better side would have led to an embarrassing score line..
Their No 7 was a threat every time he got the ball in our half and our lads simply couldn't deal with him - again, against a better quality opposition it could have been a very different outcome..

It was good to see JW at least make a sub move to mix things up when we were clearly ineffective going forward but frankly, although Ozzie clearly made a difference he must have decided he would only pass when absolutely necessary..

As mentioned by others, the shooting from Morris proved largely ineffective but I was watching them in the warm-up and they looked sharp as tacks in the shooting practice so why they can only find the opposing goalie in the middle of the goal in open play us beyond me :shock:

UTS

O'Connell had his worst game in a Walsall shirt against Shrewsbury. Miles better today.

[JJunior9]

On a positive note, O'Connor was excellent today and Morris is emerging into a talented footballer. Preston makes a lot of errors but is fast, good in the air and recovers quite well. Oztumer had a great little cameo and McGillivray's clean sheet will do him the world of good. Edwards is a good pro and I hope that McCarthy and O'Connell sign on for next year. However, midfield worries me a little: Dobson has really improved and I hope that Chambers takes on less game time next year. Currently , we are playing 5 defenders and 2 holding defensive midfielders which puts a lot of pressure on our 3 offensive players, especially at home.

I would like to see a striker, younger defensive midfielder and a fast winger in the summer. It is interesting to note that several relegated league one teams are Midlands based so perhaps we could get first dibs on the better players from Cov, Vale and Chesterfield...

[leics_saddler]

Well done boys today. That's my last game of the season, as I am unable to make the last two.
Son of Leics absolutely loved his day out and was even more delighted to see a win :D
Anyway, to say that was hard work was the understatement of the season.

I have to say that JW must be terrified of the FA, I was amazed that he picked exactly the same 11 as Friday.
It's no wonder they spent half the time walking round.
If ever there was a match made for Hayles-Docherty to appear and make an impact, this was it.
Naturally, he didn't.

Players:

McGillivray - slightly nervy start but visibly grew in confidence as the game went on, played well.

O'Connell - mildly erratic but still has too much class for us.
O'Connor - holds the back three together again, nice to see him bring it out himself at times.
Preston - highly erratic but has talent and is progressing very well, much improved this season.

McCarthy - in and out at times, but that is understandable. Offered that rarity here - genuine width.
Edwards - more solid. The real moment of genius was the goal, the way he conned the defender he was duffer on his left foot before scoring with it. :D

Chambers - not sure how we'll replace him.
Morris - played well, but will he please put one of these shots anywhere other than the keeper's midriff.
Osbourne - really felt it today and faded badly in the second half.

Makris - good link up play again and won surprising number of headers against a much taller opponent - balls on the deck would have been helpful.
Bakayoko - his performance was ruined by a ludicrously fussy referee. He needs the season to end now, he's had a good one.

Subs:

Oztumer - if he goes, we've had it.
Dobson - played very well when he came on.

Bright spots:

John Ward and the Development Squad getting a terrific reception, a ready made squad of fringe players right now. What other teams at our level would give for them to be kept in hand. Again, if John Ward wanted a swansong to retire on, this was it. He'll be a very hard man to replace.
McGillivray potentially saving us a summer of worry, it's only one performance but he's done himself no harm at all today.
...and we're SAFE !!!

One other observation, does Swifty get Bank Holidays off?

[Exile]

First win for a while. Welcome points, and although meaningless to us, it spells deep trouble for Swindon.

[coop63]

On a positive note, O'Connor was excellent today and Morris is emerging into a talented footballer. Preston makes a lot of errors but is fast, good in the air and recovers quite well. Oztumer had a great little cameo and McGillivray's clean sheet will do him the world of good. Edwards is a good pro and I hope that McCarthy and O'Connell sign on for next year. However, midfield worries me a little: Dobson has really improved and I hope that Chambers takes on less game time next year. Currently , we are playing 5 defenders and 2 holding defensive midfielders which puts a lot of pressure on our 3 offensive players, especially at home.

I would like to see a striker, younger defensive midfielder and a fast winger in the summer. It is interesting to note that several relegated league one teams are Midlands based so perhaps we could get first dibs on the better players from Cov, Vale and Chesterfield...

I predict that Dobson, McCarthy and O'Connell will be gone to pastures new and whilst I admire your optimism - you can't seriously believe that Cov, Vale and Chesterfield will sell their best players to a club that can't and won't pay for them do you???

Our rebuilding continues with the lads we saw at HT - and full credit to them and of course John Ward and his staff - it's the inevitable continuation of the management strategy based around the ongoing refusal to invest to progress... we do it the long hard and predictable way... the problem is that when we do we don't sign the lads on long enough contracts to demand serious money for them when they are ready to progress... if we did the latter then I could accept the strategy completely but it's flawed by our unwillingness to offer lengthy contracts to playing staff regardless of who and how good they are...

[Walsallone]

I don't agree with you on this...we have done well recently from giving longer contracts and selling on.....Grigg, Paterson and Henry to name three. For a club with such low support compared to our competitors we do well and we have a good number of youngsters awaiting their chance. I prefer this model to the Peterborough one but accept there are alternative strategies around.

[Guest]

Channel 5

https://youtu.be/KmSE3AI7Bkw

[saddlerJP]

Result aside

I can't watch that tripe every week, absolute dog sh!t

any decent team would of destroyed us, That diagonal pass in between the wing backs was cutting us open every time.

After a nervy start with his kicking Craig Mc played well and made 2 great saves, how are we gonna replace Chambers? run's his nads off, not great in possession yesterday but made some great tackles

[El_Nombre]

Wow some of you lot are miserable.

"We didn't really deserve to win" apart from the fact we had a dead cert cleared off the line, scored a decent goal and I can remember our keeper having one meaningful save to make.

It wasn't the best performance but I thought we managed the game pretty well. Swindon have nothing to lose and are fighting for their lives in league one.

As for the constant, and in every thread, ramblings about a striker. You are dead right, we do need one. Although quite what you want the club/manager to do about that in mid April is beyond me. We signed 2 in the summer and had a decent prospect coming through, unfortunately it hasn't quite worked out. It's the way the cookie crumbles.

[saddlerJP]

Most interesting for me (listen up PT) was Whitney actually making a tactical change with a sub on the hour that actually improved things. Ozzy came on and played as a false stiker.

Bringing on your best player returning from injury in his faveroud position is hardly a tactical genius

Glad to see Ozzy back though, when you have 5 defenders and 2 defensive midfield players - we relay on Ozzy so much to make things happen

[leics_saddler]

Coventry is a dead rubber next week.
I can't wait to see the full extent of his tactical genius then. :)

[Super Gabor]

Thought it was an insipid game lacking in quality from either side. We had a lot mis-placed passes in the first half and very little sense of urgency in driving forward (aside from Morris) against a team that looked very beatable.

Swindon were poor and I can see why they are struggling. Looked nervy and lacking in confidence, mind you we weren't much better. Their No. 10 provided a bit of impetus in the 2nd half but they never looked a real threat.

Not sure where the "quality" was that JW talked about in his post-match interview on WM. I must have watched a different game.

[Wragbyred]

It is interesting to note that several relegated league one teams are Midlands based so perhaps we could get first dibs on the better players from Cov, Vale and Chesterfield...

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake & Ched Evans are out of contract?

[Barren Flak]

A game lacking real quality, but not entertainment.

McCarthy smashed the post after Baka's mis-kick literally from kick-off. CMac, made a fine save low down first-half. Morris hit some solid efforts that deflect and go in on another day. Oztumer missed one, arguable two chances, he's been gobling up all season. O'Connell would have looked a world beater if his attempted lob had been better, great idea though. Baka's take down, turn, and botched smash for the top corner, was another almost GOTS moment. Swindon were better in attack than I'd anticipated, but couldn't find a way past, despite numerous corners and short burst of positive possession. Gladwin still very good at this level.

For a game with nothing on for us, but desperation for the opposition I thought it provided decent end of season entertainment.

League One is way too competitive to expect to roll over any team in it. But just take a minute to check out our home form over the last 3 months.

Not one of our finest seasons, but far from one of the worst in our last decade at this level.

[SoccerHQ]

The home form has been very good this season....11 wins in 21 games.

When was the last time at this level Walsall had that ratio?

[SoccerHQ]

Most interesting for me (listen up PT) was Whitney actually making a tactical change with a sub on the hour that actually improved things. Ozzy came on and played as a false stiker.

Bringing on your best player returning from injury in his faveroud position is hardly a tactical genius

Glad to see Ozzy back though, when you have 5 defenders and 2 defensive midfield players - we relay on Ozzy so much to make things happen

It was more he came on and played as central striker while Baka moved out wide so it was different to normal and could be a decent plan B option next season. Have Ozzy pressing the CBs and Baka providing a bit more pace and muscle at the full back.

[WFC Steve]

It was great to get the win - something that eluded us against Oxford. My main gripe, especially for the first half was our poor 'in game management'. Although Swindon didnt pose too many questions, they continually got into good positions which against better sides would have resulted in a decent goal tally by half time. Gladwin, as per comments above, i thought absolutely bossed the first half - yet we never tried to make any changes to address the issue. The space that he created as he dropped off the front two was not closed down quick enough by the midfield, and allowed him to run at the centre of the defence. This resulted in O'Conner being forced to close down leaving the other two CB one on one with Swindons attack. The result was that Preston was pulled wide a few times and given a rough ride - whilst not his biggest fan he was being set up to fail.

The point im trying to make is that this was evident to everyone - so why didnt we address it? JW, or the senior players on the pitch could have changed things around to counter the situation - but they didnt. More to the case, surely they had doe their homework on Swindon and knew that he was their playmaker ???? Or perhaps we can't afford to do that as well as scouting??

On a positive note, really good save and recovery from CMac - lets hope it builds his confidence

[latviancheese]

Without being completely dogshit, we werent far off.

We won because the Swindon right back mysteriously dissappeared for five minutes, and the toe punt went through the keeper.

Swindon played better in my opinion, but if they cant beat us when we play liek that they deserve to go down.

MacGillivray and Morris the only good players.

[coop63]

It was great to get the win - something that eluded us against Oxford. My main gripe, especially for the first half was our poor 'in game management'. Although Swindon didnt pose too many questions, they continually got into good positions which against better sides would have resulted in a decent goal tally by half time. Gladwin, as per comments above, i thought absolutely bossed the first half - yet we never tried to make any changes to address the issue. The space that he created as he dropped off the front two was not closed down quick enough by the midfield, and allowed him to run at the centre of the defence. This resulted in O'Conner being forced to close down leaving the other two CB one on one with Swindons attack. The result was that Preston was pulled wide a few times and given a rough ride - whilst not his biggest fan he was being set up to fail.

The point im trying to make is that this was evident to everyone - so why didnt we address it? JW, or the senior players on the pitch could have changed things around to counter the situation - but they didnt. More to the case, surely they had doe their homework on Swindon and knew that he was their playmaker ???? Or perhaps we can't afford to do that as well as scouting??

On a positive note, really good save and recovery from CMac - lets hope it builds his confidence

Interesting points you make there and I have to agree that we do lack a savvy approach to working out the 'in game' tactics of opposing teams!!

I've said for a while that we are sadly lacking a strong leader in the team who can boss the on field situations that unfold during play and unfortunately this wouldn't be such an issue if the management team had solutions planned for the training schedules 'pre-game' but sadly that seems lacking too.. I simply can't believe that we had no idea what problems Gladwin was capable of creating when bustling forward with the ball but seemingly he surprised us (only on about a dozen occasions though eh?!?!?)

Makes you wonder what we do focus on in training given our added inability to defend set pieces or score goals doesn't it? :roll:

[tinned]

Makes you wonder what we do focus on in training given our added inability to defend set pieces or score goals doesn't it? :roll:

I reckon the motivational guru has them beating their chests and shouting "#believe" all training session :roll:

[coop63]

Makes you wonder what we do focus on in training given our added inability to defend set pieces or score goals doesn't it? :roll:

I reckon the motivational guru has them beating their chests and shouting "#believe" all training session :roll:

You've hit the nail on the head there!! :D

[chriss5471]