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Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Reports and reaction from the 2017-2018 season as Walsall finished 19th in League 1
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PT
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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Sun Jan 14, 2018 4:44 pm

Walsallone wrote:5 of the team who started yesterday came through our youth system so whats all this nonsense about not being a football club!!! I am proud we produce our own and long may it continue.
The free hold issue needs resolving and we all know that but perhaps someone could explain the protesters strategy to me? I just don't get..12 people standing outside throughout the game and at the best estimate around 100 chanting "Bonser out" at the end!! How does this help to resolve the key issue? It also mean't that the players especially Liam Roberts went off with some of the fans not showing their appreciation. How sad is that?


Agree with a lot in there. Especially the bit about Roberts reception at the end. It was a bit sad.

But you could argue that yesterday's team contained so many of last year's reserves because the manager has completely mis-spent budget rather than it being a glowing testimony of our youth policy/philosophy. We can't keep applauding the latest version of Walsall FC strategic narrative without looking a tad deeper. Roberts, Kinsella, Flanagan and Bakayoko started because Gillespie, Devlin, Flo and Jackson haven't worked out rather than because last year's reserves were like United's class of '92.

And the thing about the protest is that it is a reminder that the customers of the football bit are different. We care. On all the other parts of Walsall FC if we don't deliver, the customers won't turn up in the cold to make a point, they will just go elsewhere. They don't have in their hearts the hope that The Venue can become the best Conference provider in the country, they aren't willing it to be the best it can be for their fore-bares to enjoy. Whereas football fans do care. To the point they will still turn up and deprive themselves of all or part of the product to make a point to try to influence improvement. That is some commitment and a commitment the club should notice and engage with. Otherwise more of the football customers will act like customers of the other bits of the club and if they aren't happy just not turn up at all.

We need diverse income streams. We absolutely do and we do it well. Just don't take the fans of the "core business" for granted because we aren't far from many fans just saying "Walsall FC -why? What is it for? What is its purpose? And why should I bother?

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Sun Jan 14, 2018 6:49 pm

SaigonSaddler wrote:The club is a slave to the financial whims of a single individual and I'm pretty sure that's not the position the founders of the club would have wanted for us.


Imagine what old 1920's chairman Len Fellows, the man who gifted us for free what became known as Fellows Park, would think of the situation now. Not only did we have that legacy and property taken away from us, we now have to pay a large sum of money just for the pleasure of playing home games at Bescot and after nearly 30 years of paying for this in theory have to spent MORE of the clubs money just to actually own our own stadium again, meaning we will have in essence paid three times over just for what is at best an ageing stadium. Madness.

PT wrote:And the thing about the protest is that it is a reminder that the customers of the football bit are different. We care. On all the other parts of Walsall FC if we don't deliver, the customers won't turn up in the cold to make a point, they will just go elsewhere. They don't have in their hearts the hope that The Venue can become the best Conference provider in the country, they aren't willing it to be the best it can be for their fore-bares to enjoy. Whereas football fans do care.


Imagine how the club would wake up and take notice if our conference guests got up in the middle of their event and left, or stopped attending altogether and paying for events. I think there would be a bit more of a reaction from the powers that be.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Sun Jan 14, 2018 8:11 pm

We were uncharacteristically ruthless going forward yesterday. By that, I mean we created a small number of chances, but converted two of them, which makes you wonder what might happen if the supply was better. Bakayoko had another one of those games where he was ponderous for half an hour, before realising that if you move around a bit rather than stand still next to a centre half, you might just cause a few problems. For the best part of an hour, he looked like a handful.

Liam Roberts was outstanding, although I did feel he showed his inexperience in the manner the free kick went in. Both centre halves were great at defending the aerial stuff and inside our own box, but crikey, it shouldn't be so easy to split them with a single pass from the halfway line. For all Roberts' and Guthrie's ability to clear danger, I worry about what's being worked on on the training ground.

Quite what Whitney was thinking with his team selection and formation is beyond me. Why play your best player in the one position he's least likely to receive the ball? I also felt sorry for Dobson, who I'm sure will have been brought in to link our defence and attack, but was playing in such a congested midfield, he couldn't see enough of the ball. Surprise, surprise, we looked much better after the break when we had a couple more players playing in their natural positions.

It felt strange to have picked up such an important and hard-fought win, yet still feel a need to tear your hair out. That's us in a nutshell this season though, I suppose.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Sun Jan 14, 2018 8:20 pm

WFC_Rob wrote:We were uncharacteristically ruthless going forward yesterday. By that, I mean we created a small number of chances, but converted two of them, which makes you wonder what might happen if the supply was better. Bakayoko had another one of those games where he was ponderous for half an hour, before realising that if you move around a bit rather than stand still next to a centre half, you might just cause a few problems. For the best part of an hour, he looked like a handful.

Liam Roberts was outstanding, although I did feel he showed his inexperience in the manner the free kick went in. Both centre halves were great at defending the aerial stuff and inside our own box, but crikey, it shouldn't be so easy to split them with a single pass from the halfway line. For all Roberts' and Guthrie's ability to clear danger, I worry about what's being worked on on the training ground.

Quite what Whitney was thinking with his team selection and formation is beyond me. Why play your best player in the one position he's least likely to receive the ball? I also felt sorry for Dobson, who I'm sure will have been brought in to link our defence and attack, but was playing in such a congested midfield, he couldn't see enough of the ball. Surprise, surprise, we looked much better after the break when we had a couple more players playing in their natural positions.

It felt strange to have picked up such an important and hard-fought win, yet still feel a need to tear your hair out. That's us in a nutshell this season though, I suppose.


Great summary.

I agree of the centre-halves. When they were near the ball they were great. But two of Roberts saves came from free headers and two came from one-on-ones created by, as you say, straight balls. Becoming invisible at key times isn't a great attribute.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:48 pm

The General wrote:Interesting that when we win there are relatively few posts.Shows that many would much rather moan and have nothing to say when we win because it does not fit their agenda.

Interesting that that's just not true. :wink:

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:25 am

Exile wrote:
The General wrote:Interesting that when we win there are relatively few posts.Shows that many would much rather moan and have nothing to say when we win because it does not fit their agenda.

Interesting that that's just not true. :wink:

It seems that way though - it's what I thought too.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:42 am

Whitters wrote:
Exile wrote:
The General wrote:Interesting that when we win there are relatively few posts.Shows that many would much rather moan and have nothing to say when we win because it does not fit their agenda.

Interesting that that's just not true. :wink:

It seems that way though - it's what I thought too.

UTS had history for that, but that was a while ago. it's a different sort of board in the new age of instant gratification on Facebook, twitter etc. old fashioned, for sure, but we still get views and posts!

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:53 am

Whitters wrote:
Exile wrote:
The General wrote:Interesting that when we win there are relatively few posts.Shows that many would much rather moan and have nothing to say when we win because it does not fit their agenda.

Interesting that that's just not true. :wink:

It seems that way though - it's what I thought too.


Easiest way to validate or not is to take a quick look at the number of UTS pages each game received.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:01 am

SaigonSaddler wrote:
Whitters wrote:
Exile wrote:
The General wrote:Interesting that when we win there are relatively few posts.Shows that many would much rather moan and have nothing to say when we win because it does not fit their agenda.

Interesting that that's just not true. :wink:

It seems that way though - it's what I thought too.


Easiest way to validate or not is to take a quick look at the number of UTS pages each game received.


Wins:
Scunthorpe 5
Wimbledon 6
Fleetwood 7
Doncaster 8
Oxford 4
Plymouth 6
Oldham 7

Losses:
Plymouth 4
Rotherham 4
Northampton 5
Gillingham 5
Southend 5
Wigan 4
Rotherham 6
Bristol Rovers 5

Seems more when we win, based on this - myth debunked.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:39 am

A good post PT.....I agree with your argument. The club has to show it values its fans and I think it does but others obviously don't so there is work to be done. Lets hope the meeting referred to above can help however the the future of the club and its land will not be easy to resolve even with goodwill on both sides.As I said before I wish them well their discussions.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:43 am

Wouldn't it be more accurate to count the number of posts? (if you are that way inclined, not me!). Nested quotes soon pack out a page, resulting in little content apart from two posters have a very unproductive argument.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 12:21 pm

Walsallone wrote:A good post PT.....I agree with your argument. The club has to show it values its fans and I think it does but others obviously don't so there is work to be done. Lets hope the meeting referred to above can help however the the future of the club and its land will not be easy to resolve even with goodwill on both sides.As I said before I wish them well their discussions.


Funny how you can reply here but not on posts that clearly prove you wrong

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:10 pm

Eccentric_Viewer wrote:Wouldn't it be more accurate to count the number of posts? (if you are that way inclined, not me!). Nested quotes soon pack out a page, resulting in little content apart from two posters have a very unproductive argument.


Yes, but then you could argue that such posts 'don't count' anyway for some reason, and such arguments are likely to populate all threads.

Average page length for wins = 6.14
Average page length for losses = 4.75

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:15 pm

WFC_Rob wrote:We were uncharacteristically ruthless going forward yesterday. By that, I mean we created a small number of chances, but converted two of them, which makes you wonder what might happen if the supply was better. Bakayoko had another one of those games where he was ponderous for half an hour, before realising that if you move around a bit rather than stand still next to a centre half, you might just cause a few problems. For the best part of an hour, he looked like a handful.

Liam Roberts was outstanding, although I did feel he showed his inexperience in the manner the free kick went in. Both centre halves were great at defending the aerial stuff and inside our own box, but crikey, it shouldn't be so easy to split them with a single pass from the halfway line. For all Roberts' and Guthrie's ability to clear danger, I worry about what's being worked on on the training ground.

Quite what Whitney was thinking with his team selection and formation is beyond me. Why play your best player in the one position he's least likely to receive the ball? I also felt sorry for Dobson, who I'm sure will have been brought in to link our defence and attack, but was playing in such a congested midfield, he couldn't see enough of the ball. Surprise, surprise, we looked much better after the break when we had a couple more players playing in their natural positions.

It felt strange to have picked up such an important and hard-fought win, yet still feel a need to tear your hair out. That's us in a nutshell this season though, I suppose.


Great summary , and I cant help but think its the type of issues that you highlight will see us lose a lot more than we win.

Saying that We were due a win so no big surprise that we got it on Saturday , consistency really is required now.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:54 pm

Was that Baka’s goal? Did he get contact on the ball or did LL’s cross go straight in?My eyes must be deceiving me because everyone, including the players give it to AB. But have another look chaps and see what you think. Baka dives forward but certainly doesn’t head the ball. I know it doesn’t really matter but I am intrigued .

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Mon Jan 15, 2018 8:46 pm

Mike Vale wrote:Was that Baka’s goal? Did he get contact on the ball or did LL’s cross go straight in?My eyes must be deceiving me because everyone, including the players give it to AB. But have another look chaps and see what you think. Baka dives forward but certainly doesn’t head the ball. I know it doesn’t really matter but I am intrigued .

Na na na na na na na na na na na Bakman!

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:46 am

SaigonSaddler wrote:
SaigonSaddler wrote:
Whitters wrote:
Exile wrote:
The General wrote:Interesting that when we win there are relatively few posts.Shows that many would much rather moan and have nothing to say when we win because it does not fit their agenda.

Interesting that that's just not true. :wink:

It seems that way though - it's what I thought too.


Easiest way to validate or not is to take a quick look at the number of UTS pages each game received.


Wins:
Scunthorpe 5
Wimbledon 6
Fleetwood 7
Doncaster 8
Oxford 4
Plymouth 6
Oldham 7

Losses:
Plymouth 4
Rotherham 4
Northampton 5
Gillingham 5
Southend 5
Wigan 4
Rotherham 6
Bristol Rovers 5

Seems more when we win, based on this - myth debunked.



These have nothing on a good TENNIS! thread

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Tue Jan 16, 2018 11:29 am

Mike Vale wrote:Was that Baka’s goal? Did he get contact on the ball or did LL’s cross go straight in?My eyes must be deceiving me because everyone, including the players give it to AB. But have another look chaps and see what you think. Baka dives forward but certainly doesn’t head the ball. I know it doesn’t really matter but I am intrigued .


It went in off his chest as he fell forward.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Tue Jan 16, 2018 2:21 pm

Anyone else think they see Oztumer control the ball with his arm before his lob?

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Tue Jan 16, 2018 2:25 pm

saddlersjse wrote:Anyone else think they see Oztumer control the ball with his arm before his lob?


Yep definitely. Win some lose some.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:26 pm

El_Nombre wrote:
saddlersjse wrote:Anyone else think they see Oztumer control the ball with his arm before his lob?


Yep definitely. Win some lose some.


I was sitting dead level with him and yes it looked that way but he was being leaned on by 6ft defender and who cares another great goal to remember him by
about time we had a bit of luck go our way.

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Re: Oxford United (H) Jan 13th, 3pm

Tue Jan 16, 2018 11:52 pm

reedswood sadler wrote:
El_Nombre wrote:
saddlersjse wrote:Anyone else think they see Oztumer control the ball with his arm before his lob?


Yep definitely. Win some lose some.


I was sitting dead level with him and yes it looked that way but he was being leaned on by 6ft defender and who cares another great goal to remember him by
about time we had a bit of luck go our way.

The harder you work, the luckier you get, as the saying goes...

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