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Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Reports and reaction from the 2017-2018 season as Walsall finished 19th in League 1
Cully
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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:10 pm

Walsall still well on top :D

It's all doom down at the Bescot :roll:

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:18 pm

Credit where credit is due we have looked very good tonight with some excellent football played..

Quite the relief as I was fearing the worst but we have shown some glimpses of really good play.

Morris the only stand out underperformer but it has for certain improved my mood following Saturday's result.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:34 pm

It's a pre-season friendly. A work-out is all it is!

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:37 pm

Commentator on Bakayoko: 'it's fair to say his first touch isn't the best'. :D

Watched second half on the YouTube feed. Some good play, even with all the substitutions. Created little, looked solid. Made Villa look ordinary, so that's a plus, even if it is a meaningless friendly.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:37 pm

Decent result and performance. Gave a number of the kids a run out at the end too.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:38 pm

Watching on youtube ....................... but can't see because that blokes shoulder keeps getting in the way.

But I did hear that one wayward shot was " on the way to Walsall City centre".

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:42 pm

Well I do hope some of the doom-mongers and panic merchants are going to come on here tonight and admit they were hasty?!? We played our first eleven for the first 70 minutes and that wasn't a bad display at all, against a decent Villa team. We're certainly not going to be troubling the top of the table without additions, but I doubt we're going to be relegated in September either!

First of all, credit where credit is due.....Whitney certainly knows a player when he sees one. Whoever had the idea to look up north is a genius, we appear to have signed two gems, one polished, the other unpolished. I'd reckon by the end of the season, both Devlin and Leahy will be loved by the fans.

And then, at centre half, he appears to have brought in two players who are both better than what we've got. Again, well done Whitney.

Goalkeeper - looks fine. Hard to tell, he didn't have too many saves to make, but what he did, he did well.

Two glaring problems as far as I'm concerned;

i) Up front - I'd humbly suggest that Makris would have offered more than Bakayoko did this evening. His effort was poor, his touch was awful and, when he did finally get the chance (through making a good run), he missed. I wish we could have seen Jackson on earlier because he seemed to offer a lot more in his time on the pitch. But neither is going to get the goals or lead the line in the way we need

ii) Morris - he's going further and further backwards in terms of development. And for those who say it's since Smith left, perhaps you'll remember that Smith wasn't playing him that often in our successful season because he clearly didn't rate him good enough. He's not.

That aside, Chambers may be getting old, but he's a wise head and you can see that the plan this season is to allow Devlin and Leahy to fly forward whilst Chambers drops into a back three. Good plan, saves his legs and uses his know-how. Oztumer will shine in League One again and Edwards has 5-10 goals in him this year. Cuvelier is the unknown - if he stays fit, he could be very important.

So, all in all, plenty to be pleased about but plenty still to do.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:43 pm

Hey you lot.
You're not allowed to say anything positive on here.
Bunch of Happy Clappers :mrgreen:

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:45 pm

That was OK. Second half scrappy with all the subs but a nice moment when "Simeon Jackson gives John Terry the slip". A sentence I don't think any of us thought we'd ever hear.

Good to see the M6 moving so well midweek.

All round a promising night.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:48 pm

I'm happy with what I saw of the defence but we need a Bradshaw badly.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:51 pm

saddla wrote:Hey you lot.
You're not allowed to say anything positive on here.
Bunch of Happy Clappers :mrgreen:


Be afraid, very afraid...the Dementors are hovering!

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:53 pm

I watched the match on YouTube and was quite pleased with the performance. All the new guys played okay: Guthrie and Wilson looked solid at the back, Leahy and Devlin looked okay on the ball and Gillespie was not the disaster I was expecting. If only we had a decent striker!!! It was a good team performance: only Morris and Bakayoko were poor. I'd like to see more cover in midfield: someone who can play Central and right-side - I'm not convinced by the back-up players. So, let's get in a striker and some cover in midfield and we should reach mid-table mediocrity.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:58 pm

Just on the way back I think there are positives and negatives.

Just like any other preseason fixture you can't read anything into the result.

Positives I think the defence looked very solid. Guthrie was impressive for me. Looked commanding and Devlin was a live wire while he was on the pitch.

I like the 4-4-1-1. I actually think kouyar looks sharper than Morris on the right at the moment, he injected a bit of pace into the play.

Negatives, you have the glaringly obvious issue that everybody is completely aware of upfront and the second string worry me. Preston isn't good enough and I've seen better players at Hednesford Town than Reece Flanagan.

Think the biggest positive is that I think the club can stumble along for sometime yet without falling into the abyss if that is the set up :wink:

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:16 pm

Disagree with all of the comments on Kieran Morris.
Yes he can blow hot or cold but he's unpredictable,always willing to take on a man and likes to shoot.
If those efforts that hit a post or bar last season had gone in he would have easily have been in double figures.
Would always start for me.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:18 pm

El_Nombre wrote:Just on the way back I think there are positives and negatives.

Just like any other preseason fixture you can't read anything into the result.

Positives I think the defence looked very solid. Guthrie was impressive for me. Looked commanding and Devlin was a live wire while he was on the pitch.

I like the 4-4-1-1. I actually think kouyar looks sharper than Morris on the right at the moment, he injected a bit of pace into the play.

Negatives, you have the glaringly obvious issue that everybody is completely aware of upfront and the second string worry me. Preston isn't good enough and I've seen better players at Hednesford Town than Reece Flanagan.

Think the biggest positive is that I think the club can stumble along for sometime yet without falling into the abyss if that is the set up :wink:


Looks like Flanagan is going to be the boo boy again.
What exactly did he do wrong that doesn't even get him into Hednesfords team?
He was on 10 - 15 minutes, I don't remember seeing him do anything awful

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:20 pm

Wragbyred wrote:
El_Nombre wrote:Just on the way back I think there are positives and negatives.

Just like any other preseason fixture you can't read anything into the result.

Positives I think the defence looked very solid. Guthrie was impressive for me. Looked commanding and Devlin was a live wire while he was on the pitch.

I like the 4-4-1-1. I actually think kouyar looks sharper than Morris on the right at the moment, he injected a bit of pace into the play.

Negatives, you have the glaringly obvious issue that everybody is completely aware of upfront and the second string worry me. Preston isn't good enough and I've seen better players at Hednesford Town than Reece Flanagan.

Think the biggest positive is that I think the club can stumble along for sometime yet without falling into the abyss if that is the set up :wink:


Looks like Flanagan is going to be the boo boy again.
What exactly did he do wrong that doesn't even get him into Hednesfords team?
He was on 10 - 15 minutes, I don't remember seeing him do anything awful


I didn't see him find a single red shirt and he had plenty of opportunities...

Granted I was being a bit sarcastic with the Hednesford comment but he's nowhere near league 1

Edit: it was more like half an hour too, not 10-15

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:27 pm

I was very impressed tonight with some of the possession we controlled in the first half (with all the subs in the 2nd it's always going to change the shape of the game for both sides.. that said no one did too badly even if it was for a short period..)

Was very pleased with the new signings with Leahy looking particularly good - but all doing pretty well in my opinion.

For the record - many of those critical on here lately (of which I'm one) have been so about the leadership in the boardroom not the management of the playing staff (with the exception of the striker situation etc..) well done to all tonight and I'm sure most fans will be pretty happy after that game...

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:40 pm

El_Nombre wrote:
Wragbyred wrote:
El_Nombre wrote:Just on the way back I think there are positives and negatives.

Just like any other preseason fixture you can't read anything into the result.

Positives I think the defence looked very solid. Guthrie was impressive for me. Looked commanding and Devlin was a live wire while he was on the pitch.

I like the 4-4-1-1. I actually think kouyar looks sharper than Morris on the right at the moment, he injected a bit of pace into the play.

Negatives, you have the glaringly obvious issue that everybody is completely aware of upfront and the second string worry me. Preston isn't good enough and I've seen better players at Hednesford Town than Reece Flanagan.

Think the biggest positive is that I think the club can stumble along for sometime yet without falling into the abyss if that is the set up :wink:


Looks like Flanagan is going to be the boo boy again.
What exactly did he do wrong that doesn't even get him into Hednesfords team?
He was on 10 - 15 minutes, I don't remember seeing him do anything awful


I didn't see him find a single red shirt and he had plenty of opportunities...

Granted I was being a bit sarcastic with the Hednesford comment but he's nowhere near league 1

Edit: it was more like half an hour too, not 10-15


Not a massive fan of his but thought he did ok tonight. Saw him rob Amavi of the ball and find a red shirt shortly after he came on.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:08 pm

Well i enjoyed that :D . I would be more worried if i were a glory-hunting Villa fan :lol: . We completely outplayed them for large parts of the game. My only criticism is that we looked woefully inept up front. If we do sign a half decent striker before the start of the season Baka will be lucky to get on the bench ... and just a message to Pedagogue and Swampster, I managed to escape arrest due to the fact my nephew's lad fell asleep for most of the game :mrgreen:

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:10 pm

Pheasey_Saddler wrote:
El_Nombre wrote:
Wragbyred wrote:Looks like Flanagan is going to be the boo boy again.
What exactly did he do wrong that doesn't even get him into Hednesford's team?
He was on 10 - 15 minutes, I don't remember seeing him do anything awful

I didn't see him find a single red shirt and he had plenty of opportunities...

Granted I was being a bit sarcastic with the Hednesford comment but he's nowhere near League 1

Edit: it was more like half an hour too, not 10-15

Not a massive fan of his but thought he did ok tonight. Saw him rob Amavi of the ball and find a red shirt shortly after he came on.

Quite. Some people have already made their minds up about Flanagan. Granted he has a lot to do, this season, but when fully fit and "on song", he is a quality footballer. Last season, he had problems coping with the physical side of the game. This, in turn forced him into errors, certain pillocks among our fans got on his back and his confidence drained away. As a result, he made even more mistakes. If our fans would all encourage our younger players, then they may develop into useful squad members.

He made several passes (the majority) to Walsall players. Please open your eyes when watching - it does make the experience easier! :mrgreen:

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:18 pm

Pedagogue wrote:
Pheasey_Saddler wrote:
El_Nombre wrote:
Wragbyred wrote:Looks like Flanagan is going to be the boo boy again.
What exactly did he do wrong that doesn't even get him into Hednesford's team?
He was on 10 - 15 minutes, I don't remember seeing him do anything awful

I didn't see him find a single red shirt and he had plenty of opportunities...

Granted I was being a bit sarcastic with the Hednesford comment but he's nowhere near League 1

Edit: it was more like half an hour too, not 10-15

Not a massive fan of his but thought he did ok tonight. Saw him rob Amavi of the ball and find a red shirt shortly after he came on.

Quite. Some people have already made their minds up about Flanagan. Granted he has a lot to do, this season, but when fully fit and "on song", he is a quality footballer. Last season, he had problems coping with the physical side of the game. This, in turn forced him into errors, certain pillocks among our fans got on his back and his confidence drained away. As a result, he made even more mistakes. If our fans would all encourage our younger players, then they may develop into useful squad members.

He made several passes (the majority) to Walsall players. Please open your eyes when watching - it does make the experience easier! :mrgreen:


Yeah I must have had my eyes closed for the majority because I saw the pointless chip straight to James Chester, the ball for Kouyar so over hit the keeper grabbed it. I saw him rob a Villa player only to give it him straight back in his own half. He even over hit a free kick from the halfway line to the left winger.

He made some passes under zero pressure sideways and backwards. I'm all for getting behind the players, I don't think I've ever "got on anybody's back before" and I will continue to encourage any player that pulls on a Walsall shirt during a game. But I just don't see it with him. I hope he proves me wrong.

It's funny how you are a happy clapper in one thread and a boo boy in another...

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:19 pm

El_Nombre wrote:It's funny how you are a happy clapper in one thread and a boo boy in another ...

I'm neither.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:24 pm

The one thing that chesney did tonight was get stuck in, he showed willing and although he didn't set the game alight he didn't try to hide, The club have showed a lot of faith in the lad, so either they see something special in him? or they feel that they have invested a lot of time and money in him and are chasing it in the hope that he will repay them? :|

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:28 pm

Flanagan looked okay for 30 seconds when he made a good challenge on Amavi I think it was. After that it was typical Flanagan. Gutless in the tackle. Terrible distribution. Awful positioning. Terrible hair colour.

Worse than Taundry.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:30 pm

Agree with most of the comments above.
Happy with back 4, Leahy looks like he could be a brilliant find, well impressed.
Couveliler also looked fantastic and for me the pick f all the midfielders on show tonight on either team. He looked fit, sharp, composed and comfortable against Villa, keep him fit and he is certainly a championship level player.
Oztumer can also comfortably play at a higher level, he is so far ahead in thought than players like Morris it's blindingly obvious.

The negatives for me are Baka and Morris.

Baka In particular is Slow, never on the front foot, never seems to want to meet the ball and get in front of the defender and then the job he's actually paid for when clean through - misses the target !

Lots of positives but the glaring issue is the problem up front.

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:31 pm

Pedagogue wrote:
El_Nombre wrote:It's funny how you are a happy clapper in one thread and a boo boy in another ...

I'm neither.


I was talking about me and the labels that are thrown around on this board

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:33 pm

on another note, who was Villas 25? thought he was superb reminded me of big dave that played for the Albion :)

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:36 pm

chunkster wrote:on another note, who was Villas 25? thought he was superb reminded me of big dave that played for the Albion :)

Chris Samba. Think they stole him from a basketball team!

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:37 pm

Exile wrote:
chunkster wrote:on another note, who was Villas 25? thought he was superb reminded me of big dave that played for the Albion :)

Chris Samba. Think they stole him from a basketball team!


He looked like he will get ripped apart in the championship. The guy can't turn around!

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Re: Pre-season - Aston Villa (H) Tue 18 July, 7.45pm

Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:38 pm

Exile wrote:
chunkster wrote:on another note, who was Villas 25? thought he was superb reminded me of big dave that played for the Albion :)

Chris Samba. Think they stole him from a basketball team!
:lol: the Harlem Globetrotters theme is running through my mind now :lol:

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