Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
Reports and reaction from the 2016-17 season as Walsall finished 14th in League 1
- Walsallone
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
According to JW the video shows it should have been allowed...the Assistant referee made a mistake! It seems to happen a lot and not just to just to us........................
- BathSaddler
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
A decent goal for someone who can't play football :roll: . I'm confident he will now 'kick on' and score many more for us.
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PT - Site Addict
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
Walsallone wrote:According to JW the video shows it should have been allowed...the Assistant referee made a mistake! It seems to happen a lot and not just to just to us........................
Standard of officiating is appalling. The Newcastle penalty farce the other night highlighted just how poor it has become.
Having seen it a couple of times now the Laird decision was marginal but he was just on so Whitney has a point. No doubt the stick on penalty Oxford should have had which seemed less marginal has been wiped from Whitney's memory.
At half time yesterday people were saying "we could be two or three up and have the game won now". This is normal football thinking which applies to most competent sides. However with us unfortunately it doesn't apply. Had Laird's goal counted and/or say the Morris chance been taken then it would have meant Appleton would have tweaked things earlier, Whitney wouldn't have either noticed or known what to do and we'd have possibly lost. We died after we scored yesterday. It was early enough to give them time to equalise but just about late enough for them not to win. Had the game gone on for another fifteen minutes there is only one side that would have won.
Nearly every week now we are seeing our team going out and at least matching the opposition. Then the flow is interrupted by either a goal ( to either side) or a change made by the opposition. We are then stumped. Our formulaic sub of a nine for a nine between 62 and 74 minutes happens, Whitney acts shocked when that doesn't improve things and we make a random change or two in the last ten.
Nearly every week it is the same. Whitney deserves some credit for sending the side out looking organised and motivated. But during the game he is lost and unless something freaky goes on (e.g Oztumer swinging one in from a corner or the opposition going down to ten or nine men) then the opposition dug out react to the unfolding situation far better than we do.
We lose leads more than we hold on to them and very often if the opposition score first, we're dead.
The default Walsall position is to point to a budget and say that the opposition can bring more quality off the bench than we can. This season, more than any I can remember at this level, we can't take that position. Most of the season our bench has had a £250k signing sitting next to players like Moussa, Couvelier, Jackson and one or two young players from Premier League sides.
I can't see us having any other manager than John Whitney in charge next season. I hope he can reflect and learn a bit or get some experienced help alongside him.
- Walsallone
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
The game would have been completely different had the goal counted whether the result would have been any different none of us know.JW's substitutions were poor yesterday but so was the selected team and bench. We are crying out for something different from midfield forward and to play Chambers,Osbourne and Moussa was to me a mistake. There is no pace ,very little guile and after 60 minutes the latter 2 are done for as is the poor bloke who has to play the lone striker role. In the absence of Oztumer I would have played Morris in that role and given one the young lads a game in midfield..eg Kouyhar,Sangha or Hayles Doherty or even Kinsella who seems to have disappeared without trace. The next 5 games are an ideal opportunity to try different things.....lets hope we do just that.
- samsara_wfc
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
It was definitely onside and should have stood. The refereeing in the EFL is a disgrace.
- SWS11
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
And if he does try out a few players or tactics, let's hope the moaners see the merit in doing so even if it doesn't always come off: that's the nature of experiments; they don't always work but even the failures should tell you something. :wink:
- Cully
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
PT wrote:Walsallone wrote:According to JW the video shows it should have been allowed...the Assistant referee made a mistake! It seems to happen a lot and not just to just to us........................
Standard of officiating is appalling. The Newcastle penalty farce the other night highlighted just how poor it has become.
Having seen it a couple of times now the Laird decision was marginal but he was just on so Whitney has a point. No doubt the stick on penalty Oxford should have had which seemed less marginal has been wiped from Whitney's memory.
At half time yesterday people were saying "we could be two or three up and have the game won now". This is normal football thinking which applies to most competent sides. However with us unfortunately it doesn't apply. Had Laird's goal counted and/or say the Morris chance been taken then it would have meant Appleton would have tweaked things earlier, Whitney wouldn't have either noticed or known what to do and we'd have possibly lost. We died after we scored yesterday. It was early enough to give them time to equalise but just about late enough for them not to win. Had the game gone on for another fifteen minutes there is only one side that would have won.
Nearly every week now we are seeing our team going out and at least matching the opposition. Then the flow is interrupted by either a goal ( to either side) or a change made by the opposition. We are then stumped. Our formulaic sub of a nine for a nine between 62 and 74 minutes happens, Whitney acts shocked when that doesn't improve things and we make a random change or two in the last ten.
Nearly every week it is the same. Whitney deserves some credit for sending the side out looking organised and motivated. But during the game he is lost and unless something freaky goes on (e.g Oztumer swinging one in from a corner or the opposition going down to ten or nine men) then the opposition dug out react to the unfolding situation far better than we do.
We lose leads more than we hold on to them and very often if the opposition score first, we're dead.
The default Walsall position is to point to a budget and say that the opposition can bring more quality off the bench than we can. This season, more than any I can remember at this level, we can't take that position. Most of the season our bench has had a £250k signing sitting next to players like Moussa, Couvelier, Jackson and one or two young players from Premier League sides.
I can't see us having any other manager than John Whitney in charge next season. I hope he can reflect and learn a bit or get some experienced help alongside him.
Interesting spin there PT, one in which the opposition manager is always wiser than wise and Dumbo Whitney [he's just a physio isn't he?] the stupidest 'manager' ever to 'manage' Walsall since the likes of SMITH OUT.
Not sure what I've been watching this season, probably the usual mixture of occasional brilliance, a few acres of averageness and the SMITH like performances characterised during some of his regular losing runs over the past four seasons. But hey ho, Smith was a 'proper' manager and our manager is just err.............a physio?
A quick glance at the league table confirms that there are ten teams currently operating with management teams below the level of competence of Whitney, I know this because I just checked the points tally of the teams below us. No doubt there is a valid reason for this and supporters of those clubs are probably busy slating their board for not employing a proper manager.
I agree that yesterdays game was inherently disappointing in the Walsall way, frustrating, annoying and somewhat below par, we didn't win but looking at the previous results of both teams not surprising to those who study form.
'team in decline'? I'm inclined to believe that we're making progress under Whitney particularly since he dropped his 'Believe' mantra which was presented ad nauseam during last seasons run in, and, if he fails to live up to the standards achieved by his predecessor then I'll be the first to err............man the barricades?
See you at Shrewsbury? :D
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
Unfortunately not Cully. Some family stuff. But I'll be at Cov.
I don't think Whitney is stupid or dumb. I just think he's a brilliant physio and through an interesting turn of events has grasped the chance to manage the club he's been at for many years and with whom he shares a mutual fondness. Nothing wrong with that.
I just don't think it is working out for either party.
I don't think Whitney is stupid or dumb. I just think he's a brilliant physio and through an interesting turn of events has grasped the chance to manage the club he's been at for many years and with whom he shares a mutual fondness. Nothing wrong with that.
I just don't think it is working out for either party.
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
Really pleased Makris - and it was great to see the fans get right behind him. I thought he worked tirelessly when he got very limited or poor service - i'm sure we all hope that this is the start of things to come.
I personally felt very deflated with a draw (which felt like a defeat), especially after a first half when Oxford didnt turn up. In fact, they only kicked into gear after we scored. The thing that disappoints me is the way we sit a further 10 yards deeper when we take the lead - it only invites teams on to us. I cant believe that this is an instruction from JW, and it is made even worse when we dont keep hold of the ball - Moussa didnt help the cause at all in that department. I agree with a previous post - it may be worth trying Morris in the whole whilst Ozzy is absent, at least he will give us some workrate.
I personally felt very deflated with a draw (which felt like a defeat), especially after a first half when Oxford didnt turn up. In fact, they only kicked into gear after we scored. The thing that disappoints me is the way we sit a further 10 yards deeper when we take the lead - it only invites teams on to us. I cant believe that this is an instruction from JW, and it is made even worse when we dont keep hold of the ball - Moussa didnt help the cause at all in that department. I agree with a previous post - it may be worth trying Morris in the whole whilst Ozzy is absent, at least he will give us some workrate.
- chriss5471
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
I think we are severely lacking another midfielder who can protect the ball, Osbourne if he stays is fantastic at it, Flo is quite decent too but his natural game is to drive the ball forward and spread play which comes with risk. Biggest problem to me recently is Chambers (no criticism for his service to our club at all), he sits deeper than ever, dives in when not needed due to being scared of getting beaten and not being able to catch up with play and just looks a yard off the pace these days. If we can get someone in his position who gets the ball and calmly moves it sideways or even backwards and doesn't look like he is panicking (as I say 6 months ago he didn't but I think age has caught him) we are good to go.
Also someone needs to have a word with Preston, he has two faults, one his punts up field when he can actually play the ball decently. Secondly he gets played a lot of bad and even 'hospital balls' by his team mates, he needs to get on at those players to calm down and give him better quality passes not just accept that he has to stretch to control bad passes and then punt it, he needs to impose himself more on his team mates and be a leader!
Also someone needs to have a word with Preston, he has two faults, one his punts up field when he can actually play the ball decently. Secondly he gets played a lot of bad and even 'hospital balls' by his team mates, he needs to get on at those players to calm down and give him better quality passes not just accept that he has to stretch to control bad passes and then punt it, he needs to impose himself more on his team mates and be a leader!
- latviancheese
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
First half we were okay, second half we were atrocious after scoring. All our players looked shattered after 60 mins and Oxford ran rings around us.
Referee was abysmal, i agree the standard of refs now is at an all time low. It probably doesn't help 99 percent of players are out to cheat.
Referee was abysmal, i agree the standard of refs now is at an all time low. It probably doesn't help 99 percent of players are out to cheat.
- coop63
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
I agree with other posters about how knackered we look half way through the 2nd half of games - given that our manager is a fully qualified Physio and fitness coach, it doesn't say a lot that this is a feature of our current squad of players!
It was so obvious after we scored that the players were second best to everything that happened and basically couldn't string a few passes together for the remainder of the game so it wasn't as if it was just one or two that were affected.. As said by others, another 5 minutes of play would have certainly resulted in us losing the game - no doubt about that.
I appreciate it was very warm but this wasn't the first time this has happened and I can understand the Makris substitution because he must have been emotionally wrecked after scoring (finally) :D
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It was so obvious after we scored that the players were second best to everything that happened and basically couldn't string a few passes together for the remainder of the game so it wasn't as if it was just one or two that were affected.. As said by others, another 5 minutes of play would have certainly resulted in us losing the game - no doubt about that.
I appreciate it was very warm but this wasn't the first time this has happened and I can understand the Makris substitution because he must have been emotionally wrecked after scoring (finally) :D
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aaaae - Site Addict
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Re: Oxford United (H) League One, 8 Apr 3pm
There were games during Smith's reign where it looked like we genuinely weren't trying to win. Watching was incredibly frustrating. At least on Saturday both teams were going for it. Entertaining game I thought.
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