Accrington Stanley (H) League 31/3/07 Oli's Match.

[Matt'sdad]

Phew !!! Stop doing this to me

[gavinb]

BACK OF THE NET!!!!!!!

[BathSaddler]

Swindon win - but have to withstand late Shrewsbury pressure.

Great win in the end for us - true character being demonstated for the second successive match, and without our two first choice centre halves.

UTS

[canadiansaddler]

its games like today that add a few more grey hairs but will see us go up - great character shown

onwards and upwards

UTS

[coxy_saddler]

VITAL WIN !

UTS

[Evo Boozy Saddler]

Honestly thought we were going to blow it at 2-1 down. At 1-1, I couldn't see where a goal was coming from, let alone needing 2.

Thankfully we turned it round. Mass releif, and now still bubbling towards the ultimate prize.

Promotion at Notts County could still be on.

Come on me babies :D

[Neuromantic]

Get out of Jail free card.

I thought we looked good until they scored, but didnt have any incision or pace today. As well as the last ten minutes.

The rest was: woeful.

Ince - Awful today, his kicking was atrocious, its not hard to work out that high balls were getting caught in wind, whereas if he hit it flat: no problems. Was part at fault for goal, very indecisive, as well as not commanding. 4/10

Pead - Never got forward and looked edgy, not very good. 5/10

Westwood - strangely tentative I thought, The best performer in the defence, but that doesnt say a lot as it was crap. 6/10

Gerrard - Absolutely dreadful. 4/10

Fox - Awful his distribution and lack of attackign intent and overlap play was stunning. 5/10

Cooper - not very effective today, few nice touches but they played him well I thought. 6/10

Dobson - Awesome again, what does this bloke have to do to get recognised? was brilliant at breaking play up, with good distributuion, always looked hungry for the ball. 8/10

Harper - Our only real attacking outlet, looked very good today I thought, well taken goal and linked play well. also saw his defensive side today, very good. 8/10

Butler - Apart from his contribution to all 3 goals I thought he worked hard but didnt look sharp...again. well taken goal though. 7/10

Benjamin - Some good tocuhbes and a few good headers but is a Butler copy, cant play both of them. 6/10

Subs:

Sam - Changed the game for me today, his link up play and movement created openings. very good, has to start against Torquay. 8/10

Wrack - didnt do much to be honest. 5/10


A very, very important win, roll on Torquay!

[Timmy]

Get out of Jail free card.

I thought we looked good until they scored, but didnt have any incision or pace today. As well as the last ten minutes.

The rest was: woeful.

Ince - Awful today, his kicking was atrocious, its not hard to work out that high balls were getting caught in wind, whereas if he hit it flat: no problems. Was part at fault for goal, very indecisive, as well as not commanding. 4/10

Pead - Never got forward and looked edgy, not very good. 5/10

Westwood - strangely tentative I thought, The best performer in the defence, but that doesnt say a lot as it was crap. 6/10

Gerrard - Absolutely dreadful. 4/10

Fox - Awful his distribution and lack of attackign intent and overlap play was stunning. 5/10

Cooper - not very effective today, few nice touches but they played him well I thought. 6/10

Dobson - Awesome again, what does this bloke have to do to get recognised? was brilliant at breaking play up, with good distributuion, always looked hungry for the ball. 8/10

Harper - Our only real attacking outlet, looked very good today I thought, well taken goal and linked play well. also saw his defensive side today, very good. 8/10

Butler - Apart from his contribution to all 3 goals I thought he worked hard but didnt look sharp...again. well taken goal though. 7/10

Benjamin - Some good tocuhbes and a few good headers but is a Butler copy, cant play both of them. 6/10

Subs:

Sam - Changed the game for me today, his link up play and movement created openings. very good, has to start against Torquay. 8/10

Wrack - didnt do much to be honest. 5/10


A very, very important win, roll on Torquay!

ince partly at fault for goal??

more like ince totally at fault for goal. he could have come out had a cup of tea, peeled a banana, done a hand stand and still picked the ball up. The defence stopped because it was so obviously the keepers ball. their carthorse of a striker didnt touch the ball till he got to the area and shot from infront of the penalty spot. there is no way that goal should have happened in a kids game let alone by a proffesional keeper!! :oops: :oops:

[Neuromantic]

Yeah I agree with that, but... it should never have happened - hence partly to blame. He recieved the ball ten yards out side the penalty area, that is not goalkeppers territory, who let the ball go over the heads ? no surprise really. But yeah, Ince was very poor in that instance.

[coxy_saddler]

Get out of Jail free card.

I thought we looked good until they scored, but didnt have any incision or pace today. As well as the last ten minutes.

The rest was: woeful.

Ince - Awful today, his kicking was atrocious, its not hard to work out that high balls were getting caught in wind, whereas if he hit it flat: no problems. Was part at fault for goal, very indecisive, as well as not commanding. 4/10

Pead - Never got forward and looked edgy, not very good. 5/10

Westwood - strangely tentative I thought, The best performer in the defence, but that doesnt say a lot as it was crap. 6/10

Gerrard - Absolutely dreadful. 4/10

Fox - Awful his distribution and lack of attackign intent and overlap play was stunning. 5/10

Cooper - not very effective today, few nice touches but they played him well I thought. 6/10

Dobson - Awesome again, what does this bloke have to do to get recognised? was brilliant at breaking play up, with good distributuion, always looked hungry for the ball. 8/10

Harper - Our only real attacking outlet, looked very good today I thought, well taken goal and linked play well. also saw his defensive side today, very good. 8/10

Butler - Apart from his contribution to all 3 goals I thought he worked hard but didnt look sharp...again. well taken goal though. 7/10

Benjamin - Some good tocuhbes and a few good headers but is a Butler copy, cant play both of them. 6/10

Subs:

Sam - Changed the game for me today, his link up play and movement created openings. very good, has to start against Torquay. 8/10

Wrack - didnt do much to be honest. 5/10


A very, very important win, roll on Torquay!

I agree with that..Fox is terrible has been the last few games..HOOF HOOF HOOF

[handsworth saddler]

Get out of Jail free card.

I thought we looked good until they scored, but didnt have any incision or pace today. As well as the last ten minutes.

My thoughts exactly!!

[Whitti Steve]

Fox, Pead, Gerrard and Ince - poor games

Cooper & Benjamin - innefective

Keates & Westwood - OK

Butler, Harper and Sam (sub) - Did well

Dobson - my MOTM.

Overall poor - but great character to come back from behind which is encouraging.

3 Points is all that matters, I can go on my hols happy now.

[WFC_Rob]

We struggled today with the narowest midfield I think I've ever seen. I'm not making excuses for Fox's poor distribution, but Cooper went AWOL for the majority of the game today.

As has already been said, Dobson was excellent, and Ince was very poor. Harper seemed to pick up some kind of injury to his hamstring towards the end of the first half, and didn't look as effective going forward after that.
Until he won the penalty, Butler was awful, as was Benjamin who did nothing apart from hold off defenders (before losing the ball). Sam changed the game when he came on because he dropped deeper to get the ball into his feet, which was something we didn't have the brains to consider doing before he came on.

I actually thought Accrington looked a pretty handy side with a number of players who used the ball very well. I would say I am surprised by their league position, but the way they play supports what I already knew - you cannot play your way out of this league.
Mullin looked very handy up front, and Antwi looked very solid at the back - he is on loan from Liverpool though. Funny that, Accrington can sign young players on loan rom one of the best sides in Europe while we settle for 30 year old journeymen from the likes of Peterborough. :roll:

[Cheesebag]

Ince and floella were awful today, GOT TO start with Sam up front, gives us more than the HOOF option.

Very, Very lucky today

[geoffwhiting]

2 nil to Walsall.

keates and Sam grabbing the goals.

Att : 5700
Number of pies sold : 2345
Number of pints sunk in ground : 11,450
Number of bog flushes in upper F2GO : 1305


splendid.

You sure? Have you seen the mens bogs no-one ever flushes them :shock: :lol:

And hardly any of 'em bother to wash their hands either, but that's nowt unusual with men's loos.

God I hate it, why aren't they bothered about transferring their germs onto the loo door handles etc. that I and many others have to touch to get out of there? :twisted:

[H]

If we did nt know it already, todays performance only renforced that our beloved Saddlers will need to improve considerably next season.

Accrington were the better side IMO. Mullin up front was too good for our back 4 and looked extremely useful. He was the best player on the pitch by a mile.

I thought we were rubbish to be honest - we won (and I m aware that all that counts at this stage of the season) but I personally got very little pleasure from the match. The standard of our football was frankly appalling and to me, we lacked any urgency for the entire 90 minutes. Did anyone else think, the Players thought just turning up would win us the match?

Ince was def at fault for the opener - and he scuffed one kick. But he was excellent again on crosses; love the Big Fella personally and he s had a great season.

Pead and Fox were pityful. The former got caught out of position so many times it was embarassing. Only the ineptness of Lyall is keeping him in the team. As for Fox - he was 2nd to almost every ball and the quality of his touch and distribution was appalling. Always think Foxy tries his best 2b honest but it s hard to defend hin today.

Gerrard and Westy were ok I thought - Mullin was too good for them as previously mentioned but neither reached the depths of performace put in by others.

The worst Player on the pitch was Kevin Cooper. He did absolutely nothing including chasing back which is too much of an effort for him obviously. Going forward he was just as bad. How can this bloke be possible better than Ishy? Did nt help him being on the wrong side (what the hell was DD thinking of?) as we had no width whatsoever. No excuse though for the lack of effort from Cooper - he makes me angry and should simply f *ck off back to Cardiff - a complete disgrace and not fit to wear the Walsall shirt.

Harper looked lively despite losing the ball far too often but should really be operating on the right.

Agree with others about Dobson - our best Player by a mile. How people can criticise him is unbelievable. He def good enough for League 1 (although he s probably on his own!) Thought Keates tried hard today as well - I m not a Fan but others such as Cooper could learn alot from the effort he put s in.

Butler is too slow. He s clean through in the 1st half and then has to stop and turn round cus of his zero pace. He s does this so many times it s unture. The bloke looks finshed to me and won t be good enough next season. Once again however, he gave 100%.

Benjamin - no point wasing time discussing him. No one can be any good who has played for as many Clubs as he has, in such as short career. Sam was 100 times better when he came on.

So then - we Won.......and I suppose it s all that matters. But I have nt enjoyed this season - we re probably going to get promoted.........but it s been playing frankly rubbish football. Today has made me angry (as it probably shows!) Promotions under Graydon and Nicholl filled me with pride - sorry DD but the signings you have made have been woeful - and throw your rattle out the pram if you wish but what you ve served up has nt impressed me. Maybe even Merson would have got us out of League 2.....

Not sure what others think but we re gonna need almost a new team next season. IMO with the exception of Ince, Dann and Dobson........the rest are Sunday morning fodder.

[coxy_saddler]

If we did nt know it already, todays performance only renforced that our beloved Saddlers will need to improve considerably next season.

Accrington were the better side IMO. Mullin up front was too good for our back 4 and looked extremely useful. He was the best player on the pitch by a mile.

I thought we were rubbish to be honest - we won (and I m aware that all that counts at this stage of the season) but I personally got very little pleasure from the match. The standard of our football was frankly appalling and to me, we lacked any urgency for the entire 90 minutes. Did anyone else think, the Players thought just turning up would win us the match?

Ince was def at fault for the opener - and he scuffed one kick. But he was excellent again on crosses; love the Big Fella personally and he s had a great season.

Pead and Fox were pityful. The former got caught out of position so many times it was embarassing. Only the ineptness of Lyall is keeping him in the team. As for Fox - he was 2nd to almost every ball and the quality of his touch and distribution was appalling. Always think Foxy tries his best 2b honest but it s hard to defend hin today.

Gerrard and Westy were ok I thought - Mullin was too good for them as previously mentioned but neither reached the depths of performace put in by others.

The worst Player on the pitch was Kevin Cooper. He did absolutely nothing including chasing back which is too much of an effort for him obviously. Going forward he was just as bad. How can this bloke be possible better than Ishy? Did nt help him being on the wrong side (what the hell was DD thinking of?) as we had no width whatsoever. No excuse though for the lack of effort from Cooper - he makes me angry and should simply f *ck off back to Cardiff - a complete disgrace and not fit to wear the Walsall shirt.

Harper looked lively despite losing the ball far too often but should really be operating on the right.

Agree with others about Dobson - our best Player by a mile. How people can criticise him is unbelievable. He def good enough for League 1 (although he s probably on his own!) Thought Keates tried hard today as well - I m not a Fan but others such as Cooper could learn alot from the effort he put s in.

Butler is too slow. He s clean through in the 1st half and then has to stop and turn round cus of his zero pace. He s does this so many times it s unture. The bloke looks finshed to me and won t be good enough next season. Once again however, he gave 100%.

Benjamin - no point wasing time discussing him. No one can be any good who has played for as many Clubs as he has, in such as short career. Sam was 100 times better when he came on.

So then - we Won.......and I suppose it s all that matters. But I have nt enjoyed this season - we re probably going to get promoted.........but it s been playing frankly rubbish football. Today has made me angry (as it probably shows!) Promotions under Graydon and Nicholl filled me with pride - sorry DD but the signings you have made have been woeful - and throw your rattle out the pram if you wish but what you ve served up has nt impressed me. Maybe even Merson would have got us out of League 2.....

Not sure what others think but we re gonna need almost a new team next season. IMO with the exception of Ince, Dann and Dobson........the rest are Sunday morning fodder.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[WFC_Rob]

H, talk about an over-reaction. Yes, the squad will need strengthening next year, but that's always the case when a side gets promoted. Chelsea only beat Watford thanks to a last minute goal today - does that mean they should have a massive clearout in the summer having only been able to beat the bottom club 1-0? :wink:

[Pedro]

Win is a win

11 points to get

[canadiansaddler]

So then - we Won.......and I suppose it s all that matters. But I have nt enjoyed this season - we re probably going to get promoted.........but it s been playing frankly rubbish football. Today has made me angry (as it probably shows!) Promotions under Graydon and Nicholl filled me with pride - sorry DD but the signings you have made have been woeful - and throw your rattle out the pram if you wish but what you ve served up has nt impressed me. Maybe even Merson would have got us out of League 2.....

Not sure what others think but we re gonna need almost a new team next season. IMO with the exception of Ince, Dann and Dobson........the rest are Sunday morning fodder.

Dann - Merson wanted to get rid off

Ince and Dobson, DD signings.

So all DD signings woeful ah :D

[WombourneSaddler]

Great character and determination to come back from 2-1 down. Agreed with the comments re the wingers, thought we were far too narrow today as we have been most of the season. I thought we gave Accrington too much respect (as well as a free gift of a goal) again, not for the first time this season.

And yet. Another 3 points, another step closer to promotion. I suspect that we could probably win a few of these kind of matches more easily by playing with a bit of width and pushing on in the first half hour - some of these teams might crumble and we might be up by now.

[Atomic Rooster]

s**t preformence who cares 3 pts priceless.Apart from dobson who was outstanding and sam when he came on you can forget the rest.I hope Westwood don't have to play against another rough and ready striker again this season he was murdered by him.I think its time to rest fox and bring taylor back in and pead still gives me nightmares when he is up against a quick direct winger

[Barren Flak]

Actually really enjoyed today even though we weren't anywhere near our best.

Accrington did us a massive favour by coming and playing. Me fear with is that any side that comes to bescot and packs the midfield will cause us trouble. Always likely to concede a goal with Gerrard and Westwood in the middle. Pead and Fox need some lessons in passing.

Dobson = Class Act Today = My MOTM

Wingers looked totally uninterested, even though fairly comfortable on the ball

[redsaddler]

Well, we certainly don't do it the easy way do we? Still, another vital three points in the bag and another step taken towards promotion. At this stage of the season it's points that matter, not performances and the fighting spirit today was excellent. Here's my thoughts and marks out of ten:

Ince: Caught in two minds for their first goal and didn't come off his line for their second, otherwise sound. 6.

Pead: Lost possession a few times and was beaten by his man too easily in the first half. Had an assist in the winner. 6.
Gerrard: Beaten for pace for their first goal and looked sloppy in possession. Slight improvement after the break. 6.
Westwood: Played his team-mates into trouble with some dangerous passing at times. I prefer him in the right-back position. 6.
Fox: Distribution was terrible again. Like Pead, his marker got the better of him all too often. 4.

Cooper: Went close with a first half free-kick. Otherwise ineffective for the most part. 6.
Dobson: He was my man of the match. Interceptions, tackles, passing, you name it, he was excellent. 8.
Keates: Showed nerves of steel to produce a great penalty finish. Not exactly his best game, but worked as hard as ever. 7.
Harper: Opened the scoring with a cool finish. Some good running down the wing and chased lost causes. 7.

Butler: Won us the penalty and won us the match with a smart finish. Flew in to a couple of dangerous tackles though. 7.
Benjamin: Won a number of flick-ons, but most of them didn't find a team-mate. Worked hard, but was generally ineffective. 5.

Subs:

Sam: Combined some neat touches with some good hold-up work, but generally never threatened in and around the box. 6.
Wrack: Barely touched the ball in a brief outing in the last ten minutes or so. 5.

Accy star man? Tricky one, but I would say Robbie Williams as he made some good tackles and scored their second goal.

So, onwards and upwards we go. Next week's game at Torquay won't be easy, even though they are bottom of the football league. We will have to play better than we did today (especially in defence) if we are to collect maximum points. I can't make this one, but I will be at the Hereford match on Easter Monday.

Up The Saddlers!

[latviancheese]

Hmm Butler for me shows he has no first touch, cant fault him today though, ran the channels, ran after everything, won a penalty, scored a goal.

Ince was at fault for me for their first, should of come and got it, but how a big paceless baldman can outrun our two centre halfs is beyond me.

Harper was just like Mark Wright, has a paddy when he loses the ball, Except harper is good enough to get away with it, because when he gets he's dangerous.

Cooper was anonymous today.

Keates and dobson worked hard IMHO

Benjamin was too slow, Hes no better than Sam.

Fox and Pead were alright IMO, pead especially. Defended well.

Crap performance, great three points.

[Registered Saddler]

And breathe.

Well - we like doing things the hard way don't we?! It wasn't pretty today but we got the three points and that was so important. Accrington looked far better than their league position suggests and although their manager is a bit of a prat, I hope they stop up - they deserve to.

There were so many negatives today, it was untrue. Even allowing for the wind, which was a real hindrance, we looked way short of what we are capable of - and what we showed last week at MK Dons. Harper and Dobson had good games I thought, they were blameless. The rest of them were a bit of a shambles and they have all played much better than that this season, so I'm not going to single anyone out for criticism.

Apart from Cooper. I'm sorry, but what gives him the excuse to play like that? I'm sick of loanees coming to Walsall and thinking they can do what they want. We saw too much of that last season. Wright played much, much better Cooper did today earlier in the season and still got dog's abuse from some of our fans. Yet Cooper got a standing ovation from some people today? You only had to look at Pead in the second half to see what the other players thought of his 'efforts'. Time after time, Cooper couldn't be bothered to track back and left Pead up against two men. Dobson and Westy kept getting pulled out of position to try to cover Cooper's laziness. He showed one or two flashes of skill, but nothing like the attacking intent of Harper - and didn't put over a single cross all day. Useless.

But I'll end on a positive. Three wins from six games will see off Lincoln, because of our goal difference. Four wins from six games will leave MK Dons having to win all six. So if we, by hook or crook, win back-to-back games over Easter, we will be very, very close.

[Neuromantic]

No mention of Gerrard rubbish performance today registered saddler, I mean I must have been wrong all this time, I believe what i write according to you, and have zero knowledge. :D

Sorry mate, I just had to point it out!

[H]

And breathe.

Well - we like doing things the hard way don't we?! It wasn't pretty today but we got the three points and that was so important. Accrington looked far better than their league position suggests and although their manager is a bit of a prat, I hope they stop up - they deserve to.

There were so many negatives today, it was untrue. Even allowing for the wind, which was a real hindrance, we looked way short of what we are capable of - and what we showed last week at MK Dons. Harper and Dobson had good games I thought, they were blameless. The rest of them were a bit of a shambles and they have all played much better than that this season, so I'm not going to single anyone out for criticism.

Apart from Cooper. I'm sorry, but what gives him the excuse to play like that? I'm sick of loanees coming to Walsall and thinking they can do what they want. We saw too much of that last season. Wright played much, much better Cooper did today earlier in the season and still got dog's abuse from some of our fans. Yet Cooper got a standing ovation from some people today? You only had to look at Pead in the second half to see what the other players thought of his 'efforts'. Time after time, Cooper couldn't be bothered to track back and left Pead up against two men. Dobson and Westy kept getting pulled out of position to try to cover Cooper's laziness. He showed one or two flashes of skill, but nothing like the attacking intent of Harper - and didn't put over a single cross all day. Useless.

But I'll end on a positive. Three wins from six games will see off Lincoln, because of our goal difference. Four wins from six games will leave MK Dons having to win all six. So if we, by hook or crook, win back-to-back games over Easter, we will be very, very close.

Pleased you also noticed the disgraceful performance from Cooper - to me it was just a complete lack of effort. He should never pull on a Walsall shirt again.

[Neuromantic]

Cooper was just ineffective, he was chasing for the ball in between breaks of play, he wouldnt have done that if he was disinterested, I just think he was ineffective rather than rubbish.

[H]

H, talk about an over-reaction. Yes, the squad will need strengthening next year, but that's always the case when a side gets promoted. Chelsea only beat Watford thanks to a last minute goal today - does that mean they should have a massive clearout in the summer having only been able to beat the bottom club 1-0? :wink:

Bit of a silly comparison.... :!:

A clearout is needed at Bescot however...