Bristol City (Wembley) JPT Final Sunday 22 March 3.30pm

[philthesaddler]

Shite game, piss poor performance across the board, well deserved defeat. As for crap Pizza Hut with the embarrassment of a footie pitch attached, the less said the better. Ho the fudge can it take a hour to even get a coach off the car park.
I'm personally happy not to bother going to that corporate shithole again unless it's for a playoff

We remarked something similar at half time - if we were to reach the JPT final again next season how many would be take? 10,000? I doubt it would be that much.

[sallian]

Sawyers was the only one to turn up today and be mildly happy with his performance. He at least tried to make things happen even if his final ball wasn't great. I suppose O'Donnell handled well on occasions and didn't have a chance with either goal.

The rest...meh but what were the alternatives. Purkiss getting skinned time and again by Freeman but then O'Connor is even worse with pace. Taylor, not really fit but the alternative was Benning.

Maybe on balance Cain should've played in a 3 man midfield with Sawyers behind two forwards but lack of width then.

I look at it as Bristol City are a pretty good team and they turned up today so a defeat was always likely, they're not as good as Wolves but will be solid mid table in the championship.

A goal at Wembley would've been nice though.

I don't share your and others enthusiasm about sawyers...I think he regularly takes too long to deliver the simple pass to a free player in space and often screws up the final ball.....Baxendale is better....

[sallian]

Sawyers was the only one to turn up today and be mildly happy with his performance. He at least tried to make things happen even if his final ball wasn't great. I suppose O'Donnell handled well on occasions and didn't have a chance with either goal.

The rest...meh but what were the alternatives. Purkiss getting skinned time and again by Freeman but then O'Connor is even worse with pace. Taylor, not really fit but the alternative was Benning.

Maybe on balance Cain should've played in a 3 man midfield with Sawyers behind two forwards but lack of width then.

I look at it as Bristol City are a pretty good team and they turned up today so a defeat was always likely, they're not as good as Wolves but will be solid mid table in the championship.

A goal at Wembley would've been nice though.

As for you sawyers turned up? that fudge would be late for his own funeral and I am a loyal regular fan before u start.
Sin enough of that lazy lazy lazy Scunthorpe

I'm critical of Sawyers as well, he doesn't produce enough goals and assists for his talent but I thought he tried hard today to make things happen, he would've looked very good in the Bristol City team.

Bristol though....bringing on Emmanuel Thomas and Wade Elliot at the end was taking the mick somewhat, I assumed both were integral first team players so they have a little bit better first 11 and squad really.

His talent is mainly imagined... Fails more than succeeds, some are misled by his leisurely stride and seem to think it is some Zidanesque cool quality and mastery.....sorry but it isn't. Way too many times dispossessed due to him and often delivers a poor pass/cross and even worse shot. Baxendale, Cain, Forde, Cooke, Grimes are all better....but Dean Smith has his few favourites which stifle the chances of getting anywhere. Maybe Dean Smith has taken things as far as they can go with him

[Salop Saddler]

Shabby performance all round.

[otiswfc]

I was in block 127 today amongst me we're regular faces I know plus other's I soon found out were albion what was their first reaction of sawyers? lazy that's not me saying it it's fans from other clubs I will never defend his potential over his work rate again, see u at chesterfield saddlers.

[philthesaddler]

Hmm, where to start,

Fantastic day, great to see our Walsall at Wembley, great stadium, just in a god awful area and I feel sorry for those who tried to make the journey by car. It really beggars belief that when they had the chance to move the national stadium to somewhere more convenient they didn't. I'm not saying Birmingham necessarily - somewhere maybe on the outskirts of London with better national transport links.

Having said that, I travelled by train and the experience was pretty good.

As for the game - it was another typical WFC performance from Dean Smith and his team.

Purkiss yet again looks excruciatingly poor, would struggle to cross a bridge...yet we have O'Connor (who looked excellent in our last 2 games) on the bench, and Chambers (who previously played most games for us at right back) at centre back.

Forde - looked off the pace from the start.

Cook - wasn't at the races at all, didn't look interested.

Downing - had a solid start, but made a couple of mistakes and visibly lost confidence. Looks a more solid player with OConnor next to him, which makes the decision to leave him out even more odd.

Taylor - looks unfit, like an old dog, his brain still thinks he can run fast, but his body disagrees.

Mantom - huffed and puffed

Chambers - still struggling to get home as he's going sideways.

Bradshaw - heavily taped hamstring, didn't look fit, didn't get a single bit of service however

Sawyers - did nothing for me, brings very little to the team. With 5 in midfield we really should dominate other teams in the middle but we dont, and it's down to the fact Sawyers is so languid. As I said earlier on the thread, he's got all the attributes to be a top player, but he's nowhere near that at the moment, he's gone backwards in the last 2 years. If his agent thinks anyone believes the tripe about premier league clubs looking to buy him, then he's pretty thick. Burnley or whoever can have Sawyers, it would be a breath of fresh air for the team.

The biggest disappointment is that we just didn't turn up.

On paper we are the poorer side, but it's a cup game FFS - being the underdog is what it's all about. You may not be technically as good as the opposition, you may not earn as much, but you win games on grit, determination, passion, pace, strength, agility, desire - and we didn't show any of that today.

After weeks of mutual fellatio down at Bescot, they got caught up in their own hype and forgot that there was still a game to play. I mean, the way the club talk about being at Wembley as such a big thing, the way the press have been - "walsall's big day"...the way the players are etc... it all leads to one thing - that the fact we were playing at Wembley was more important that the result.

I've even seen dozens of people tweeting about how the result wasn't important, it was being at Wembley that was important.

The acceptance of mediocrity does my nut in.

[SoccerHQ]

At the end of the day to me it's the JPT. Nobody really cares about it bar the real hardcore who went to Rochdale and Tranmere but of course a Wembley appearance was a novelty.

Now if that was a play off final, a chance to win promotion, a chance to get more money, better players, go to even better away stadiums and have more coverage and that performance was produced....then I would be totally and utterly distraught.

[superdon101]

At the end of the day to me it's the JPT. Nobody really cares about it bar the real hardcore who went to Rochdale and Tranmere but of course a Wembley appearance was a novelty.

Now if that was a play off final, a chance to win promotion, a chance to get more money, better players, go to even better away stadiums and have more coverage and that performance was produced....then I would be totally and utterly distraught.

Agree

[chestersaddler]

At the end of the day to me it's the JPT. Nobody really cares about it bar the real hardcore who went to Rochdale and Tranmere but of course a Wembley appearance was a novelty.

Now if that was a play off final, a chance to win promotion, a chance to get more money, better players, go to even better away stadiums and have more coverage and that performance was produced....then I would be totally and utterly distraught.

I must be in a minority that just takes it as it comes. Much rather be in the lower 2 divisions . fudge the better stadiums and the coverage

[sid swifty]

What a bloody disgrace,with 30,000 "Walsall fans" to impress and be tempted to try Walsall out again in a league match,Dean Smith played one lone (unfit) striker and bored the pants of any but the most loyal fans, and blew any chance of me or many thousands of possible recruits going to Bescot in the future,boring,boring,boring.

[dobbster71]

Well, Phil stole my thunder there.
We were 2nd best everywhere on the pitch. Slow, lethargic, underhitting passes, not chasing down loose balls & never looking likely to win a 50/50 challenge.
Nicely worked routine for Bristol's first goal. Defenders & GK's attention all on one guy making a nuisance of himself & "boom"!
2nd goal down to woeful defending. Though someone had glued RO'D to the goal line. He didn't command the 6 yard box at all.
There was never an attacking threat to our game. Sure, we played pretty sideways posession stuff in the first 2/3rds of the pitch but never had a clue what to do in the final 1/3rd. I thought we might go a little more direct (not hoofball though) in the 2nd half & really give it a go. The timing of the 2nd goal put paid to that & knocked the remaining stuffing out of us, but overall the response from the players was very poor. The forward line was incredibly static throughout. The lack of alternatives, both in terms of playing style & players is getting tiresome. I really hope that lessons will be learned from this game....

Wembley Stadium was ok. Nothing special & today, as a whole, paled into insignificance when compared to Cardiff. Oh, to have had Graydon's team on the field today!!!

UTS!

[JonnyOwen]

Dreadful.

For me only Sawyers and O'D played okay.

We made no noise, felt like no-one knew any of the songs which for me was the most dissapointing part.

Players looked devastated, and Cain is deservedly livid and Vital Walsall is saying he's heard that O'Connor "walked out" or something. This aye helped the team or Smith.

See you all Saturday at Chesterfield.

[chestersaddler]

What a bloody disgrace,with 30,000 "Walsall fans" to impress and be tempted to try Walsall out again in a league match,Dean Smith played one lone (unfit) striker and bored the pants of any but the most loyal fans, and blew any chance of me or many thousands of possible recruits going to Bescot in the future,boring,boring,boring.

Reading that, the disappointment of losing today is already fading away

See ya next time we have some 'success'

[sallian]

Hmm, where to start,

Fantastic day, great to see our Walsall at Wembley, great stadium, just in a god awful area and I feel sorry for those who tried to make the journey by car. It really beggars belief that when they had the chance to move the national stadium to somewhere more convenient they didn't. I'm not saying Birmingham necessarily - somewhere maybe on the outskirts of London with better national transport links.

Having said that, I travelled by train and the experience was pretty good.

As for the game - it was another typical WFC performance from Dean Smith and his team.

Purkiss yet again looks excruciatingly poor, would struggle to cross a bridge...yet we have O'Connor (who looked excellent in our last 2 games) on the bench, and Chambers (who previously played most games for us at right back) at centre back.

Forde - looked off the pace from the start.

Cook - wasn't at the races at all, didn't look interested.

Downing - had a solid start, but made a couple of mistakes and visibly lost confidence. Looks a more solid player with OConnor next to him, which makes the decision to leave him out even more odd.

Taylor - looks unfit, like an old dog, his brain still thinks he can run fast, but his body disagrees.

Mantom - huffed and puffed

Chambers - still struggling to get home as he's going sideways.

Bradshaw - heavily taped hamstring, didn't look fit, didn't get a single bit of service however

Sawyers - did nothing for me, brings very little to the team. With 5 in midfield we really should dominate other teams in the middle but we dont, and it's down to the fact Sawyers is so languid. As I said earlier on the thread, he's got all the attributes to be a top player, but he's nowhere near that at the moment, he's gone backwards in the last 2 years. If his agent thinks anyone believes the tripe about premier league clubs looking to buy him, then he's pretty thick. Burnley or whoever can have Sawyers, it would be a breath of fresh air for the team.

The biggest disappointment is that we just didn't turn up.

On paper we are the poorer side, but it's a cup game FFS - being the underdog is what it's all about. You may not be technically as good as the opposition, you may not earn as much, but you win games on grit, determination, passion, pace, strength, agility, desire - and we didn't show any of that today.

After weeks of mutual fellatio down at Bescot, they got caught up in their own hype and forgot that there was still a game to play. I mean, the way the club talk about being at Wembley as such a big thing, the way the press have been - "walsall's big day"...the way the players are etc... it all leads to one thing - that the fact we were playing at Wembley was more important that the result. F*ck that.

I've even seen dozens of people tweeting about how the result wasn't important, it was being at Wembley that was important. F*ck off.

The acceptance of mediocrity does my f*cking nut in.

'
Yes agree with most of that....but I actually think they thought/assumed they were going to win by 'playing our game' Dean Smith seeming more and more naive to me concerning what it takes to be consistently successful, doesn't seem to see the limits of doing the same thing over and over and relying on same people over and over...terrible motivational skills due to benching players and preferring obviously unfit ones. i think the team would be better without sawyers AND smith sadly.

[sallian]

Well, Phil stole my thunder there.
We were 2nd best everywhere on the pitch. Slow, lethargic, underhitting passes, not chasing down loose balls & never looking likely to win a 50/50 challenge.
Nicely worked routine for Bristol's first goal. Defenders & GK's attention all on one guy making a nuisance of himself & "boom"!
2nd goal down to woeful defending. Though someone had glued RO'D to the goal line. He didn't command the 6 yard box at all.
There was never an attacking threat to our game. Sure, we played pretty sideways posession stuff in the first 2/3rds of the pitch but never had a clue what to do in the final 1/3rd. I thought we might go a little more direct (not hoofball though) in the 2nd half & really give it a go. The timing of the 2nd goal put paid to that & knocked the remaining stuffing out of us, but overall the response from the players was very poor. The forward line was incredibly static throughout. The lack of alternatives, both in terms of playing style & players is getting tiresome. I really hope that lessons will be learned from this game....

Wembley Stadium was ok. Nothing special & today, as a whole, paled into insignificance when compared to Cardiff. Oh, to have had Graydon's team on the field today!!!

UTS!

yes agree....but sadly don't think Smith will learn any lesson from it...as he doesn't seem to have so far after dozens of chances to see the obvious

[WFC_Rob]

Players looked devastated, and Cain is deservedly livid and Vital Walsall is saying he's heard that O'Connor "walked out" or something. This aye helped the team or Smith.

Good riddance if true. One's a 20 year old in his first season playing proper football for anyone, and the other's flattered to deceive in all but two or three of the games he's played. The first's been naive. The second's unprofessional - if any of the speculation's true.

I can't really bring myself to comment too much on the game - mainly because the absolute melodrama on here's tried my patience within about 5 minutes of reading it. I don't accept mediocrity by any means, but what I will accept is being well beaten by a team 10 points clear at the top of our league. All sense of perspective seems to have been completely lost.

[SoccerHQ]

Dreadful.

For me only Sawyers and O'D played okay.

We made no noise, felt like no-one knew any of the songs which for me was the most dissapointing part.

Players looked devastated, and Cain is deservedly livid and Vital Walsall is saying he's heard that O'Connor "walked out" or something. This aye helped the team or Smith.

See you all Saturday at Chesterfield.

You'll always get that problem when so many daytrippers turn up. Wembley stadium is incredibly vast aswell, noise dosen't carry well at all.

I was in the middle tier which had a great view and I could hear just about the singing section behind the goal making what probably sounded to them a massive racket but it barely carried so difficult to get a wall of noise in that situation.

I was too young to go in 2001 but imagine the acoustics and stadium design of the Millenium made for a far better atmosphere.

[SoccerHQ]

Players looked devastated, and Cain is deservedly livid and Vital Walsall is saying he's heard that O'Connor "walked out" or something. This aye helped the team or Smith.

Good riddance if true. One's a 20 year old in his first season playing proper football for anyone, and the other's flattered to deceive in all but two or three of the games he's played. The first's been naive. The second's unprofessional - again, if any of the speculatin's true.

I can't really bring myself to comment too much on the game - mainly because the absolute melodrama on here's tried my patience within about 5 minutes of reading it. I don't accept mediocrity by any means, but what I will accept is being well beaten by a team 10 points clear at the top of our league. All sense of perspective seems to have been completely lost.

Yeah it wasn't like Cain was suddenly dropped on the day of the final, he hasn't played in the last two after all and Mantom having proved his fitness in the last week was always going to start really.

I'd say of all of them Hiwula should probably be the most disappointed not to start, I'd have played him ahead of Cook today out wide.

[Mazza01]

Cain is not our player, so I can kind of understand why Dean went with Mantom.

[scott_powell]

So, today we have established the we have crap players and crap fans!


Sawyers was the only Walsall player who deserves any credit from today. Everything we did went through him. It's just a shame that nobody im our team is on his level

People slagging Sawyers off are thick. Watch the game back once you've finished licking windows.

[chestersaddler]

So, today we have established the we have crap players and crap fans!


Sawyers was the only Walsall player who deserves any credit from today. Everything we did went through him. It's just a shame that nobody im our team is on his level

People slagging Sawyers off are thick. Watch the game back once you've finished licking windows.

I do wish he had the confidence to have a go at goal more often rather than pass on the responsibility to someone else.

[sallian]

So, today we have established the we have crap players and crap fans!


Sawyers was the only Walsall player who deserves any credit from today. Everything we did went through him. It's just a shame that nobody im our team is on his level

People slagging Sawyers off are thick. Watch the game back once you've finished licking windows.

Things go through him because 1) He is in the position of linking midfield to attack 2) The manager probably demands they use him as an outlet as he is seen as a playmaker

it doesn't mean that's the way things should be, nor does it mean he is the best to execute that role

However, you can't blame Sawyers for that....nor can he be blamed for those who overestimate his ability and contribution due to their ignorance of football skills, tactics and variables

[<Nat>]

We had nothing to lose and everything to gain...
What did we do... sat back let them have the space to move around without pressure...
Did we forget this is the best team in the division...
We wholly deserved to lose and I fear for our survival in the league with performances like that even on a big occasion.

[SaddlerSteve]

We were cack ... End of!
Disgrace of a performance!
Losing after having a go if assume most fans would be ok with.
Rolling over and asking to be bummed is unacceptable!

[Kevlar]

Obviously disappointed...................but it could have been worse.

You can discuss tactics , line ups, etc etc , forever and a day...............but, on that display, in this division blokes like Luke Freeman and Little make things happen.


Maybe it was a one off for either of 'em. I don't pretend to be clued on all the oppostion players, but I will be amazed if Freeman doesn't go on to better things.


On the Sawyers debate .........he seems to split opinons.


I can't work out if he thinks he is better he is, or would be better in another team , or just lazy...................my verdict for what it's worth is , bottom half of the third division is JUST about his level.

[Guest]

As seen on BBC TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeE3mSEpe5s&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[saddlerken]

A pathetic performance that some of the Walsall players will regret for the rest of their lives if they've got any pride in what they do.

One chance, that's all these players will ever get, and that's what they came up with? I don't think Bristol City had to break sweat.

Embarrassing. The start was bad enough. What was the team talk I wonder? "sit back lads and enjoy the occasion"?

The tactics, the lack of urgency, the substitutions, the lack of aggression, it was dreadful.

Reading through this thread, if you really want the manager to succeed or you believe in what the manager is trying to do then you'll make excuses for the performance all day long.

I had a nice day ruined by the football.

[ToeJoe Jnr]

I can accept losing, seen enough of it in 28 years. To lose without a fight or any passion is simply not acceptable. However what did we expect? That was a carbon copy performance to every other game this season, just in a bigger stadium with more fans. If you go to Chesterfield on Saturday you will no doubt see the same. To many deficiencies in this team. Can't defend set pieces or deal with big bustling strikers. One paced with zero to little attacking threat.

Season over barring us getting into a relegation scrap. Let's see who can be bothered in the remaining 8 or 9 games to turn up and play.

[otiswfc]

Smith has used the build up to Wembley as an excuse for poor performances I guarantee he will say we've got a Wembley hangover when we play cack in the next half a dozen game's. The only people who are allowed wembley hangovers are us poor loyal fan's who have had our big day ruined by Mr Neg Smith. Iv never in all my life felt the need to apologise for a Walsall performance like I did to a few fan's that have travelled from abroad in jj moon's after the game yesterday.I'm just pleased that they said they enjoyed their day out.

[PyeGreenSaddler]

Agree with a lot of whats being said....

Completely dissapointed by such an abject performance. Every single player was poor really. Lack of drive, determination, bite, passion etc...

We stood off far too often and allowed them to really dictate the pace and flow of the game overall.

We had about 10 - 15 mins of play towards the end of the first half and around 10 mins post their second goal but without ever creating a clear chance.

Just so frustrating and indicative of so many performances under DS.

But after all that Wembley was crap for atmosphere, spread out over such a huge area meant that chants and songs never really got going. Pockets of noise but that was about it.

View was great from the middle tier but was so far from the pitch that didn't feel that connected.

I said before the game that without a good performance from us we would gift it to them by two or three. I knew without us being on it we would make mistakes and they would punish us. I really wanted to be wrong ......