Dave Roe wrote:geoffwhiting wrote:Sounded like an excellent performance, and as a staunch Merson critic, I can't see any way we could criticise him tonight
Have you thought hard enough, Geoff ? There's gotta be something we can pin on him :wink:
Well, yes we can :D . In fairness,, Merson's hands were tied with the injuries and two players being cup-tied but I would still fault his starting team selection. Why did McDermott start while Constable was on the bench? Diddy Dave looked out of his depth all night whereas Constable gave the Swans' defence something to worry about when he came on.
The first half was very poor but the second half of the main match and that of extra time saw us as clearly the better team. Oakes, I'm afraid, will not look back with any pleasure on this game. He was at fault with both Swansea goals and became the first of our team to miss a penalty (the crucial 5th one) although, to be fair, at least he took a penalty and he also saved one. He has this habit of blocking shots but then punching the ball weakly into dangerous (to us) areas instead of punching for safety. He got away with it tonight apart from their second goal which was right against the run of play. Pead tackled well but his passing was awful. He also bottled out of taking a penalty. Westwood, Gerrard and Fox were their usual steady selves. It was a shame that Westy blotted his copybook with such a wimpish penalty. Wright I could willingly strangle! He is just like his Dad :D Promises so much but achieves so little. Demontagnac did very little. Standing and Smith worked hard in the centre of midfield but Standing so often spoils it by having one touch too many and thus loses the ball. Up front, Nicholls worked his socks off as usual but McDermott was anonymous. Constable came on for Demontagnac and did well and then Deakin replaced McDermott, near the end.
What puzzled many of us in the trusty band of Saddlers' followers was the absence of the two recognised strikers from the rota of penalty takers. Nicholls and Constable had scored two cracking goals in open play and surely their confidence must have been higher than that of a raw teenager, making his debut. Shame on the two of them (and Pead) for leaving Deakin to face the music. I know that Constable and Nicholls are not first team regulars and are not very experienced themselves but they have played a darn sight more than Deakin.
This match was SO frustrating. We could, and SHOULD, have won it. That's our only chance of glory gone for this season. However, I am very optimistic that we can beat the Clayheads on Saturday and I'm looking forward to a good performance at the Shitannia Stadium.
