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Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Reports and reaction from the 2017-2018 season as Walsall finished 19th in League 1
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chunkster
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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sat Apr 28, 2018 10:44 pm

Guest wrote:
Whitters wrote:
Guest wrote:
swampysaddler wrote:http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/league-one/11351451/walsall-1-0-northampton



For overseas Saddlers without VPN:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18LH0aB ... p=drivesdk

Cheers Guest - you're my "poster of the season" for the highlights you give us.

How did we not lose that - maybe the posts they hit should be preserved for posterity.
Great ball from Baka for the goal and brilliant shot by Dobson.


Just for you, Whitters. :D The Channel 5 highlights.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h5MYWu ... p=drivesdk


(I don't think I'll be able to do this next season when the highlights are on Quest. :( Not a channel I can get in HK at the moment.)
Well thanks for your past contributions :wink:

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IHTC.
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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sat Apr 28, 2018 10:54 pm

Bristol Fan wrote:You are mistaken. He played right back.


I thought he was Right of a back 3 in a 3-5-1-1 sort of formation.
Last edited by IHTC. on Sat Apr 28, 2018 11:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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scott_powell
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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sat Apr 28, 2018 11:10 pm

IHTC. wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:You are mistaken. He played right back.


I thought he was Right of a back 3 in a 3-5-2 sort of formation.


Kory was nowhere near right back.

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IHTC.
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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sat Apr 28, 2018 11:39 pm

scott_powell wrote:
IHTC. wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:You are mistaken. He played right back.


I thought he was Right of a back 3 in a 3-5-1-1 sort of formation.


Kory was nowhere near right back.


Exactly, otherwise it would have been a back 4 with no one on the left of midfield :lol:

Plainly obvious it was a 3-5-1-1 formation

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IHTC.
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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sat Apr 28, 2018 11:42 pm

coop63 wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:You are mistaken. He played right back.


Thanks for confirming - I was beginning to think I was at the wrong game but then remembered the pandemonium when that beauty from Dobson went in :D


Think you were both at the wrong game.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sat Apr 28, 2018 11:43 pm

Was solid wherever he was deployed. Was really happy for him after the Wimbledon fiasco

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deldras
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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 1:08 am

In all the mayhem after the goal did the ref miss a couple of cards when Bak & Dobson ripped off their shirts :?:

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 7:08 am

That result is absolutely front and centre of everything that supporting Walsall, or indeed any REAL football team, is about.

A dreadful season and difficult game, thrown into stark relief with a late, late winning goal that changes EVERYTHING!

Full credit to the lads on the pitch - in a results business we should be generous with our acclaim now.

:D :D :D Up the flipping Saddlers!!!

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:42 am

IHTC. wrote:
coop63 wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:You are mistaken. He played right back.


Thanks for confirming - I was beginning to think I was at the wrong game but then remembered the pandemonium when that beauty from Dobson went in :D


Think you were both at the wrong game.


Good god, people will argue about anything if they can. OK, to be perfectly absolutely definitely confused about it - he was in a back 3 but biased to the right side of the pitch - how’s that?

What we SHOULD be discussing is how rank Leahy is - he cannot defend (simple as that...)

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:43 am

Chris Marsh wrote a very good motivational piece in the E and S last week. Marsh said the Northampton game would give a Walsall player an opportunity to write himself into the Walsall history books. Dobson could have done just that. That was an immense goal. Didn't realise at the time that it was his 40 yard ball out wide to Baka. Starting and finishing a move like that over two thirds of the pitch into injury time! Just awesome. The lad could develop into a very very good footballer for Walsall FC.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:50 am

chunkster wrote:Baka taking his shirt off as if HE had scored it :lol: showed a bit of passion though :wink:


He was just practicing for when he does get on the score sheet.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:50 am


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yoda
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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:02 am

I heard an interview with the Northampton gaffer saying he took their number 22 off because he's had a few hamstring tweaks recently, and when he saw him stretching he got worried and acted.

I presumed he had one eye on Oldham. Either that or he thought they were so dominant he didn't need him.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:02 am

deldras wrote:In all the mayhem after the goal did the ref miss a couple of cards when Bak & Dobson ripped off their shirts :?:


He booked Dobson but missed Bakayoko's.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:04 am

coop63 wrote:
IHTC. wrote:
coop63 wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:You are mistaken. He played right back.


Thanks for confirming - I was beginning to think I was at the wrong game but then remembered the pandemonium when that beauty from Dobson went in :D


Think you were both at the wrong game.


Good god, people will argue about anything if they can. OK, to be perfectly absolutely definitely confused about it - he was in a back 3 but biased to the right side of the pitch - how’s that?


Don't give in! It was a back 4 with Roberts at right back and Devlin on right of midfield. (And checking Joe Masi's tweets, he said the same thing just after kick off, so nice to confirm I was not going mad.)

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:21 am

With the all the euphoria about our win I am the only one worried about what Keates's bizarre team selection tells us about how he is going to be next year.

Playing Kory Roberts as a full back was a huge gamble, and we were very lucky that we were not punished. I like Roberts for his effort, his reflexes, his athleticism and his pace, but he did not have a clue how to mark the Northampton left winger. He was responsible for leaving his player unmarked which led to the chance in the second minute when they hit the post. While Roberts made some good tackles and used the ball well on occasions, he was an accident waiting to happen.

Playing Devlin as right midfielder was another terrible decision. Devlin is not a good wide midfielder and would not get into a side as a winger at professional level. He lacks the pace, first touch, dribbling and crossing skills that are needed.

It is not as if there were no other players in the squad available for right back and right midfield; and the fact that Keates did not see that his decisions were not working out and make changes is a cause for concern.

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yoda
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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:26 am

I always thought Keates was just doing what he could with a squad of very little talent. The obvious set up wasn't working so he's trying something different to plug the gaps.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:40 am

Was it purely a coincidence that George Dobson featured on the cover of the programme yesterday, or does the editor have some mystical powers?

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:33 am

Huge error from the Northampton managers, threw on more attackers with 10 minutes to go leaving a huge gap in the middle of the park which we exposed on the break. I was actually impressed with Northampton up to that point.

If I was trying to put a positive view on this squad I'd say there is some genuine quality but the amount of individual errors is scandalous. How much of that was down to Whitney and his coaching?

Also One thing I think we shouldn't do is count our chickens just yet, this COULD still do to the last day.

Picking up on Phils post , I really get it I truly do but if the club do not realise what they need to do to put things right then there's no hope.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 11:17 am

Harry wrote:With the all the euphoria about our win I am the only one worried about what Keates's bizarre team selection tells us about how he is going to be next year.

Playing Kory Roberts as a full back was a huge gamble, and we were very lucky that we were not punished. I like Roberts for his effort, his reflexes, his athleticism and his pace, but he did not have a clue how to mark the Northampton left winger. He was responsible for leaving his player unmarked which led to the chance in the second minute when they hit the post. While Roberts made some good tackles and used the ball well on occasions, he was an accident waiting to happen.

Playing Devlin as right midfielder was another terrible decision. Devlin is not a good wide midfielder and would not get into a side as a winger at professional level. He lacks the pace, first touch, dribbling and crossing skills that are needed.

It is not as if there were no other players in the squad available for right back and right midfield; and the fact that Keates did not see that his decisions were not working out and make changes is a cause for concern.

I don't necessarily disagree, but Keates has been trying to make us more organised and tougher to beat with a horribly imbalanaced squad. He wants to play 4-4-2 but the fact he only had one wide midfielder in his entire squad means Devlin is seen as the next best thing in the right of midfield - I can't really disagree with that.

Of course, the knock-on is that we then have to play either Kinsella or someone else out of position at right back. If you listen to Keates' post match interview, he was expecting Crooks to play on the left for them, so opted for Roberts' aerial ability. As it turned out, Crooks played on their right and destroyed Leahy time and time again.

Time will tell how effective Keates' tactics are, but I'd encourage people not to read too much into his decisions at the moment. It's only now we realise just how sparse a squad he has to work with.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 11:21 am

Also, while it's easy to get carried away after his goal yesterday, I really do think Keates could do worse than make Dobson captain and build a team around him. In amongst some real dross since Christmas, he's been the one player trying to put his foot on the ball, trying to keep possession, and trying to move us forward without just lumping balls into the channels. In a team where everyone knows their role, I can see him being really effective.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 12:07 pm

Kory Roberts did play right-back yesterday and completely switched off after a couple of minutes to allow Northampton through on goal to hit the post. Other than that he did alright.
Leahy was completely up against it all afternoon as he allowed Northampton's right winger to beat him several times. We got away with it though as we rode our luck and Fitzwater and Guthrie had decent games - mopping up the mistakes.
Dobson was man of the match. In a 30 second spell in midfield he really got stuck in and won a couple of tackles which spurred us and the crowd on. His run and finish for the goal was quality.
Devlin had 3 great chances. He shot straight at O'Donnell's chest when he should have tried to drill it in the corner. He had a completely free header which he planted wide of the goal and then, perhaps short of confidence, chose to cross to an empty penalty area when he could have took a touch and gone through on goal. He tried hard though, so I will forgive him.
Oztumer came into the game in the 2nd half and played well, making the most of the space afforded to him.
Bakoyoko worked hard and kept his cool for the goal.
The last 15 minutes it was all Walsall as Northampton were dead on their feet and the strange subsitions from Dean Austin allowed us to boss the game.

An incredible finish to the game and a brilliant atmosphere that makes you realise why you became a football fan in the first place.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 12:34 pm

coop63 wrote:
Cowshed wrote:Great atmosphere for a game at national league quality but a very intelligent team selection by mr Keates

Kory Roberts at left back gave us more height and a solid look at the back as did Devlin in midfield

Credit the players effort and energy as compared to Northampton we made no subs in normal time this being one of the benefits of a young team

Bakayoko struggled to hold the ball up but made some strong runs late on you have to give him that and of course the assist was composed

Thanks have to go to two posts, a bar and the back of Liam Roberts head

Also to Dean Austin for taking McWilliams off towards the end as he had been running the show and his absence in midfield created more space for our late pressure

And last but not least for the one bit of quality in the game to get the winner young Dobson for sure a future captain

We need a point and I need a pint

Uts


Kory played right back not left back....



Yeh definitely right back

I can see why, on paper, it would be viewed as a back 3 with wing backs, but it certainly played out as a back 4 with Leahy constantly pinned down by Crooks all afternoon. The E &.S also under the impression it was a 4 4 1 1, not that they are any valid reference point.

I thought the number 17 McWilliams bossed it until he went off, him and Crooks no 22, the right winger, may be players to look at in the summer if available and ,as is likely, we are going to play 4 4 2 under Keates.

There is some good to come out of the season though, in that Liam Roberts, Kory Roberts and George Dobson should really be the future spine of the team. Promising young players that show quality and hopefully will be the start of another good generation with experience around them. Other than Edwards there is no one else I would want to keep if not contractly obliged.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 12:48 pm

I would keep Guthrie as well...he has played every minute of every game and has done well considering we have two none defenders at full back and has had a succession of CB partners. He has been one of our best performers since Christmas .

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 12:54 pm

Try and get Fitzwater back on season long loan (or sign him if he's out of contract at West Brom).

I think he's potential to be decent defender at this level and he's more of a goal threat than existing forwards!

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 1:16 pm

That is definitely the first time I have seen fans invade the pitch from the oap stand! Bunch of hoodlums :lol:

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:42 pm

Gutted last week. Euphoric this week. What a win. What a win! :D :D :D :D

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:45 pm

WFC_Rob wrote:Also, while it's easy to get carried away after his goal yesterday, I really do think Keates could do worse than make Dobson captain and build a team around him. In amongst some real dross since Christmas, he's been the one player trying to put his foot on the ball, trying to keep possession, and trying to move us forward without just lumping balls into the channels. In a team where everyone knows their role, I can see him being really effective.

Too young? He won’t turn 21 till November...

Other than that I was thinking the same thing.

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Mon Apr 30, 2018 8:17 am

Anyone else still watching that goal?! :D

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Re: Northampton Town (H) 28th April, 3pm

Mon Apr 30, 2018 9:00 am

Harry wrote:With the all the euphoria about our win I am the only one worried about what Keates's bizarre team selection tells us about how he is going to be next year.

Playing Kory Roberts as a full back was a huge gamble, and we were very lucky that we were not punished. I like Roberts for his effort, his reflexes, his athleticism and his pace, but he did not have a clue how to mark the Northampton left winger. He was responsible for leaving his player unmarked which led to the chance in the second minute when they hit the post. While Roberts made some good tackles and used the ball well on occasions, he was an accident waiting to happen.

Playing Devlin as right midfielder was another terrible decision. Devlin is not a good wide midfielder and would not get into a side as a winger at professional level. He lacks the pace, first touch, dribbling and crossing skills that are needed.

It is not as if there were no other players in the squad available for right back and right midfield; and the fact that Keates did not see that his decisions were not working out and make changes is a cause for concern.


Really?

As far as I can see the other options are Kinsella and Morris. You can slate him for any of those selections.

The personnel we have to choose from has got nothing to do with Keates, so blasting him on selections is very harsh. Hopefully he sorts in the summer.

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