Welcome. This site is an archived version of the previous UpTheSaddlers forum (December 2004 to May 2018). To visit the new UTS website, please click here.

Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Reports and reaction from the 2017-2018 season as Walsall finished 19th in League 1
Locky
Glitterati
 
Posts: 794
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:24 pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:28 pm

95 minutes of my life I won't get back. Not a single piece of quality from any player on either side or the officials not that it mattered in this game. Same entertainment value as watching a pair of damp socks dry on a radiator. I will have forgotten this game all together in 5 minutes time. 22 individuals having a knock around and being bad at it. Little sign of there being actual teams out there. Utter rubbish from both sides. Could only ever be 0-0.

User avatar
Cowshed
UTS Veteran
 
Posts: 582
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 8:25 pm
Location: Sutton Coldfield

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:54 pm

Poor game from both sides absolutely no tempo or effort

Gillespie earned a point with a brilliant save in the first half when the player was clean through

Well done keeper

User avatar
SaigonSaddler
Site Addict
 
Posts: 10825
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: In Bonser's Grotto

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 6:09 pm

If I had to describe that in one word it would be:

Trundling.

We looked a bit flimsy on the wings in defence and clueless trying to break them down. Ozzy and others tried to fashion something and we got some hopeful crosses over, but nothing clinical.

Edwards should have shot first time for our only chance of the entire game.

Trundle.

SoccerHQ
Site Addict
 
Posts: 3661
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 8:01 pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 6:12 pm

Surprised Bristol were that poor, I think Liam Sercombe is a top midfielder at this level and Nichols was a good forward at Exeter.

Two moves in the summer I'd have been very happy with Walsall making.

Keep saying it every week but there is nothing in this division between 10 clubs, these two are in that group.

Marlow on WM said 30 points after 23 games is exactly the same as last season, 14/15 and one other Smith season. Doubt finishing position will be much different.

User avatar
SaddlerSteve
Site Addict
 
Posts: 3154
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:06 pm
Location: Milton Keynes

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 6:17 pm

SoccerHQ wrote:Surprised Bristol were that poor, I think Liam Sercombe is a top midfielder at this level and Nichols was a good forward at Exeter.

Two moves in the summer I'd have been very happy with Walsall making.

Keep saying it every week but there is nothing in this division between 10 clubs, these two are in that group.

Marlow on WM said 30 points after 23 games is exactly the same as last season, 14/15 and one other Smith season. Doubt finishing position will be much different.


Yeah, someone posted on Twitter that after 23 games we’re the same as last season.

W7 D9 L7

Walsallnil
 
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:47 pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 6:31 pm

Dull, really dull apart from a brief spell in the second half. Good save by Gillespie when it was needed. Nothing up front though.

User avatar
hullsaddler
Glitterati
 
Posts: 1031
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 9:08 am
Location: hull

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 7:50 pm

Bristol had gone 34 successive league games without a draw before today and from listening to commentary that was probably the only vaguely memorable thing about the game.

User avatar
boringteacher
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 2108
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:50 pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:15 pm

A thrilling, action packed delight between two outstanding teams destined for great things this season :twisted:

A fair result, though both teams were such utter gash that the EFL board should change their rules and give them zero fudge points. Whitless out.

User avatar
Exile
Jobsworth
 
Posts: 23623
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 7:06 pm
Location: ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ノ

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:20 pm

Exile wrote:
deldras wrote:Leaky defence, haven't drawn all season..........0-0 it is then :lol:

My thoughts exactly.

Bang on the money.

How depressing.

User avatar
wednesburysaddler
Glitterati
 
Posts: 689
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:43 pm
Location: wednesbury

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:00 pm

boring match no excitement no atmosphere
almost as though Walsall trying to see the season out.

well keep scraping the odd draw and win but well be mid table or lower in the final reckoning
season seems over already to me not cack enough to go down not good enough to trouble top 6

going to take something special to persuade me and a few others when early bird tickets come a calling

Mike Vale
UTS Regular
 
Posts: 140
Joined: Thu Jul 18, 2013 4:18 pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 10:36 pm

It wasn’t a classic but it wasn’t that bad in patches. I thought there was reasonable intent on both sides to win it . Chambers was good as was Kory Roberts. Rovers fans pitched up in good numbers and I thought it a decent if not pulsating atmosphere. Excitement, like beauty , is in the eye of the beholder. All Saddlers fans of a certain vintage will have seen much worse than today’s game.

User avatar
tinned
Site Addict
 
Posts: 10023
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:49 pm
Location: Same poo, different day!

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 10:44 pm

How long have we got to put up with this pathetic Whitless dross?

Two poor teams playing the most boring, clueless football imaginable. And Whitless plays one up front. Happy with a 0-0 against another useless team are you?

For years I have watched often poor Walsall teams that often lose more than they win, but never in those years have I seriously considered not renewing our season tickets. I am now. At the moment the thought of shelling out hundreds of pounds for another season of Whitless dross makes me feel sick to the stomach. If the powers that be at the club don't care then why the hell should the fans?

Whitless out!

philthesaddler
Site Addict
 
Posts: 5371
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 3:13 pm
Location: Bescot Stadium, 'the stadium that never closes'. Opening hours Mon-Fri 10am-4pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Tue Dec 26, 2017 11:43 pm

Wasn’t a bad match, just a match between 2 bad sides.

So little quality out there that it actually becomes painful to watch - you’ve got things like:

1) the whole Home crowd can see a pass is on, but the player with the ball delays, and dallies, and waits, then either doesn’t play it, or gives it away

2) having no plan, our XI today might never have met each other before for all I knew. There was no coherent plan of attack, just hoof it

3) With Ozzy being bypassed, all creativity had to come from Morris and Ismail. The former is now incapable of beating his man, the latter is half decent but suffers from the fact he’s playing in a poor side who have no intent of attacking movement. Just watch the players who haven’t got the ball, when we have the ball - no one shows, no one moves, nothing

Positives? Korey Roberts looked decent (for his age and experience). Erm, that’s it.

Not sure I’ll shell out another £20+ on Saturday to watch this boring, directionless, cautious and clueless football to stand on a cold terrace, to go in an unheated bar at half time and pay for overpriced flat-as-a-witches tit beer.

User avatar
scott_powell
Site Addict
 
Posts: 4045
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:23 pm
Location: Clunge

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 12:48 am

Sounded like a fantastic game. Whitney in!! :roll:

User avatar
Guest
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 2054
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:17 am
Location: Hong Kong

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 5:18 am

The action worthy of Channel 5, plus a teaser for Saturday.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uDcGH4 ... p=drivesdk

No sign of Gillespie's save.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 27, 2017 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Walsallone
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 1901
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:43 pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 9:13 am

A poor first half but much better in the second. We should have won and ,contrary to the views above, i thought we played some good football at times and got in a good number of threatening crosses. Certainly we lack firepower but T. Roberts is injured and Baka. was a silly boy at Northampton. At the back I was really impressed by K. Roberts and Guthrie who played very well.
Our main problem other than the two missing men is the lack of goals from other positions on the pitch. Ismail could have had a couple yesterday and Edwards should have had a couple although one shot was brilliantly saved.
As for JW I liked Sam Allardyce's comments about Everton on Match of the Day. They went along the lines that the players have to take some responsibility. He pointed out that they weren't coached to pass to the opposition :D

WSTFC
UTS Regular
 
Posts: 128
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 8:06 am

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:57 am

I have to say that was one of the dullest games of football I've seen in my 19 years as a Walsall fan. Both teams could have played until Boxing Day next year and they still wouldn't have scored!

As for individuals, I'd give plenty of 5 and 6 out of 10's. But special mentions to Kieron Morris and Luke Leahy. Kieron Morris couldn't pass diarrohea, and Leahy can't seem to beat the first man from a cross, or defend. Our left side is atrocious.

Agyei too, very inconsistent. Why bother bringing in kids from Premier League teams to be like that when you can use our own kids in that position (Candlin mainly, but THD too). Surely it's better to use our own than someone elses? Tyler Roberts is well above Agyei, but I fear will be gone very soon (all loans up on Jan 5th I think?)

The strangest thing about yesterday was the final whistle. No boos, no applause. Just deadness. Nobody seems to care and it's like people just turn up because they have nothing else better to do or because they have a ST and feel obliged. It's a sorry state at the moment this club of ours.

User avatar
saddla
Site Addict
 
Posts: 2932
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:18 am
Location: too far

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 12:49 pm

I'm going to put my tin hat on here, but our play improved dramatically when Agyei came off and was replaced by Jackson. He won more headers in his first 2 minutes on the pitch than Agyei had during the whole of his time on the pitch. I don't see much point in having wingers/ fullbacks who can cross the ball when we have a forward who can't head it.
Bristol pushed their players up whenever we had a goal kick to stop us playing it on the floor from the back so Gilespie had to play it long resulting in the ball coming straight back at us. Only when Jackson came on and held the ball up did we look threatening.
Guthrie and Kory looked competent at the back. Oz had an off day. Edwards had a bit of a mare his passes finding opposition players more often than ours. Had 1 rasping shot well saved though that could have meant 3 points on another day.

First 70 mins was dire. Last 20 was a bit better.

User avatar
ToeJoe Jnr
UTS Regular
 
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 8:46 pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 12:53 pm

WSTFC wrote:I have to say that was one of the dullest games of football I've seen in my 19 years as a Walsall fan. Both teams could have played until Boxing Day next year and they still wouldn't have scored!

As for individuals, I'd give plenty of 5 and 6 out of 10's. But special mentions to Kieron Morris and Luke Leahy. Kieron Morris couldn't pass diarrohea, and Leahy can't seem to beat the first man from a cross, or defend. Our left side is atrocious.

Agyei too, very inconsistent. Why bother bringing in kids from Premier League teams to be like that when you can use our own kids in that position (Candlin mainly, but THD too). Surely it's better to use our own than someone elses? Tyler Roberts is well above Agyei, but I fear will be gone very soon (all loans up on Jan 5th I think?)

The strangest thing about yesterday was the final whistle. No boos, no applause. Just deadness. Nobody seems to care and it's like people just turn up because they have nothing else better to do or because they have a ST and feel obliged. It's a sorry state at the moment this club of ours.


Good summing up. Leahy is chronic, I was no Laird fan but I’d take him over Leahy. In fact Andy a Taylor isn’t getting a game at Blackpool, I’d take him over Leahy as well!

I have no idea what is the best position for Morris? I am not sure whether he is just rubbish or whether this is the fault of the coaching setup that he has gone backwards? I would have said he was a left winger but I have never seen a left winger who can’t beat a man or cross a ball as poorly as Morris. There is no room for sentiment in football, he maybe one of our own but he won’t be for much longer.

Ageyi, meh, take him or leave him, but to be fair when all you have is Leahy pumping balls into the corner for you I think Harry Kane would look average. Saying that Jackson showed us what we have been missing, absolutely nothing. That bloke has stole a living off us for 18 months.

The game was summed up by Guthrie being named MOM. Now I’m not saying he deserved it, him, Roberts and Chambers were our best players. However at home, against a team who have conceded 24 goals away from home (2nd worst in the league) and our defenders are our best players tells everyone what they need to know about that game. Boxing Day inflated crowd won’t be flooding back after that.

The atmosphere at the end is down to the fact that the season is over, there is nothing to play for. This is how it will play out until May, win some, lose some, draw some, play crap in most with the odd exciting performance and lots more crap spouted by Whitney! January transfer window might be interesting in terms of what we are left with.

I’ll be there on Saturday, not because I particularly want to, but I’m committed by a ST. Coupled with getting my 7 year old into the bug of football he can suffer like I had to over the years, it will build him as a person! :D :lol:

Felix
 
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed May 08, 2013 10:05 am

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 2:20 pm

Rarely comment, was insipid. Boxing Day Home Match, 2 pages of comments says it all really.

EvenFlow
UTS Veteran
 
Posts: 594
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 3:30 pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 4:35 pm

ToeJoe Jnr wrote:Good summing up. Leahy is chronic, I was no Laird fan but I’d take him over Leahy. In fact Andy a Taylor isn’t getting a game at Blackpool, I’d take him over Leahy as well!


+1 for this. I don't find anything redeeming about Leahy at all. Constant aimless balls into the channel with the ball at his feet (9 times out of 10, swept up by Rovers' right back), offered Morris zero pace/urgency on the overlap, and completely devoid of positional sense- there was one particular moment about an hour in where, if Joe Edwards hadn't spectacularly bust a gut to get back to cover left-back from inside the centre circle, Rovers would have had a two-against-none situation on their right flank. Is Cockerill-Mollett still injured?

User avatar
tinned
Site Addict
 
Posts: 10023
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:49 pm
Location: Same poo, different day!

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 6:04 pm

Walsallone wrote:A poor first half but much better in the second. We should have won and ,contrary to the views above, i thought we played some good football at times and got in a good number of threatening crosses. Certainly we lack firepower but T. Roberts is injured and Baka. was a silly boy at Northampton. At the back I was really impressed by K. Roberts and Guthrie who played very well.
Our main problem other than the two missing men is the lack of goals from other positions on the pitch. Ismail could have had a couple yesterday and Edwards should have had a couple although one shot was brilliantly saved.
As for JW I liked Sam Allardyce's comments about Everton on Match of the Day. They went along the lines that the players have to take some responsibility. He pointed out that they weren't coached to pass to the opposition :D


Played good football at times? Even the Channel 5 highlights could only muster up 2 shots to showcase the game.

Do you really believe T. Roberts is injured? More like he's been kept fit before a sale or another loan somewhere more suiting his talents.

Walsallone
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 1901
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:43 pm

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 8:14 pm

You and I TINNED always see different games. I like accentuate the positives rather than criticise people just for the sake of it. We should have won the game during that excellent spell in the second half when Ismail fired just wide, put in a cross that 2 of our players were within inches of touching in, the cross from Leahy headed just over by Jackson,the shots by Edwards ,one of which brought a great save from the goalie just to name a few!!!
The first half was poor but the Agyei effort which was brilliantly saved might well have won us the game on another day. The point I was making was that we were without 2 of our best attackers(for whatever reason) and for us that was a big loss. As for your conspiracy theory about T. Roberts I just don't know but I am not a great believer in conspiracy theories.
Anyway we have had 11 points from the last 6 games....hardly a cause for alarm....indeed if we win Saturday it will be 14 from 7!!! Not bad eh?

User avatar
tinned
Site Addict
 
Posts: 10023
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:49 pm
Location: Same poo, different day!

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 8:37 pm

Walsallone wrote:You and I TINNED always see different games. I like accentuate the positives rather than criticise people just for the sake of it. We should have won the game during that excellent spell in the second half when Ismail fired just wide, put in a cross that 2 of our players were within inches of touching in, the cross from Leahy headed just over by Jackson,the shots by Edwards ,one of which brought a great save from the goalie just to name a few!!!
The first half was poor but the Agyei effort which was brilliantly saved might well have won us the game on another day. The point I was making was that we were without 2 of our best attackers(for whatever reason) and for us that was a big loss. As for your conspiracy theory about T. Roberts I just don't know but I am not a great believer in conspiracy theories.
Anyway we have had 11 points from the last 6 games....hardly a cause for alarm....indeed if we win Saturday it will be 14 from 7!!! Not bad eh?


Paint me whichever way you want. I can get all enthusiastic and over optimistic at times (plenty of times in the past). I just rather say it as I find, and I haven't found much to get excited about in the last 12 months. We are going the grand total of nowhere with Whitney in charge and the sooner the experiment is brought to an end the better.

User avatar
SaigonSaddler
Site Addict
 
Posts: 10825
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: In Bonser's Grotto

Re: Bristol Rovers (H) Tue Dec 26th, 3pm

Wed Dec 27, 2017 9:16 pm

I have to say ... that game was pure shite, and that's including the all too brief spell in the 2nd half where we threatened their goal a bit. I've seen enough games to determine shite from a reasonable performance / being unlucky / battling bravely.

Previous
Return to 2017-18 Season

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 23 guests