booster cogburn wrote:Great battling performance especially in the second half, very proud of them, but please let's not carried away with any of this "best home performance of the season" nonsense. Don't let the euphoria of a fine victory cloud your judgment too much.
First half we battled ok but were sloppy defensively and should have gone in 2 or 3 down. We were only saved by woeful finishing.
Second half was much tidier and (after they gifted us our goal) the great team spirit that DD has instilled in his players carried us through to the end. Oddly, Forest seemed to run out of ideas when they brought Einstein Agogo on. Which was nice.
Just to clear up the DD and the text stand incident. It was about half way through the second half and the whole of our crowd was very quiet. DD turned round and gestured towards the hordes of ermm corporate guests and visitors from other clubs with comp tickets and press box members and senior, sedate Walsall fans to make some noise. He then pointed at the scoreboard and shouted "look at the score!" and made a dismissive gesture.
I must say that annoyed me a bit because apart from a few of us on our row, most people never make any noise in that stand immediately behind the dug outs, and neither would you expect them to. The main cauldron of noise ought to come from behind the goal and tonight, like at most other games, it was very quiet for long periods.
Agree with that. Forest should have won - on possession - but it's what you do with that possession that counts. Forest's much-vaunted strike force was probably one of the least effective seen at Bescot, this season. How many on-target shots did Ince have to save? I'm struggling to remember any! Much of the credit for that must go to the back four, of course. The three young Scousers and the plastic Taff are currently in fine form.
Regarding DD, a mountain has been made out of a molehill. There was no collective moaning from the Text999OAP stand - just the occasional individual - and that happens in ALL of the stands. DD turned round to exhort the fans to make more noise - that's all. When he finally put Sonko out of his (and our) misery by substituting him, Mr. Sunshine received generous applause (which his performance scarcely merited) from the Walsall fans, particularly from the Old Codgers' Stand. DD nodded his approval at this, as I think he was expecting Eddie to get some "stick".
The Gerrard incident occurred right at the end of the first half. Sonko's nightmare performance had clearly p****d off Gerrard and he gave Sonko a real mouthful, telling him what he thought of his contribution to the team play. Not surprisingly, this upset Sonko and an argument ensued. Now call me a coward, if you like, but, of all the Walsall players, Gerrard would be one of the last I would start an argument with! Fortunately, Mooney stepped in and grabbed the pair of them and dragged them away, down the tunnel. I would have loved to have been a "fly on the wall" in our dressing-room, at half-time! :D
BTH texted me after the game and said that he was certain that Forest should have been awarded a penalty, for handball, near the end. He may have been right, but from my angle (and, presumably, the referee's), it looked like handball by a Forest player. In any event, Forest would have missed the penalty if it had been typical of the rest of their finishing! :lol: To counter BTH's claim, I saw nothing wrong with Ricketts's disallowed "goal". That said, I thought that the referee was excellent, tonight. Certainly the best that we have had, this season.
Back to reality on Saturday - Gresty Road - NOT one of my favourite grounds!