Doncaster Rovers (H) League 1 New Years Day 1/1/08

[Rushall Saddler]

Amazing number of people forecasting Ishy to play and/or score.
I wish.
I cannot ever, ever,ever forecast a Walsall defeat. I am psychologically incapable of so doing and will, therefore, never win the Prediction League (unless we go all season without losing - and why not, one day :mrgreen: )
Today I risk
2 - 2
Ishy and Ince to score for us.
The fair-haired linesman and that bloke in the wheelchair to score for them.
(I've got £1 on this scenario to win £6453742 :D :D )

Well he is starting at least :D

[KJC]

Line Up.....

01 Ince
02 Weston
05 Gerrard
15 Dann
26 Taundry
22 Sonko
07 Wrack
18 Bradley
03 Fox
29 Ricketts
12 Demontagnac

[Duke]

Southend beaten at home by Bristol Rovers , good news for us.

more good news Swansea held to a 1-1 draw at Swindon

[philthesaddler]

Leeds have fallen behind again

[Duke]

Forest 1-0 down at home to Huddersfield.

Leeds 3-0 down :shock:

[hullsaddler]

Oh dear!

[Surrey Saddler]

cack. One down

[Rushall Saddler]

Bugger.

[Surrey Saddler]

Sonko off, thank goodness

[Biggles]

Zi-Dann...................

[Surrey Saddler]

C'mon lads. 3 points if you get a goal

[Burnside]

I thought first half was neck and neck. Both sides had chances. They probably spent more time in our half, but i thought we had the more clear cut chances, few headers.

The first twenty minutes of the second half there was only one side - Doncaster. Our young team seemed to lose its head for about 15 minutes. Misplaced passes, men not being picked up, then we changed it round, we would have been greatful for a point after 65 minutes, but by 90 minutes it was Doncaster greatful for the point.

I thought Nicholls, Ishy(his last 10 mins) , Deeney, Bradley really spurred and drove us on. What a handful.

all in all i think we missed some key men today. We lost our pattern of play at times. Taundry gave a good account of himself. Bradley had the worst hour of football i've seen yet but got to grips for the end.

I'm pleased with today.

[Maverick]

I thought first half was neck and neck. Both sides had chances. They probably spent more time in our half, but i thought we had the more clear cut chances, few headers.

The first twenty minutes of the second half there was only one side - Doncaster. Our young team seemed to lose its head for about 15 minutes. Misplaced passes, men not being picked up, then we changed it round, we would have been greatful for a point after 65 minutes, but by 90 minutes it was Doncaster greatful for the point.

I thought Nicholls, Ishy(his last 10 mins) , Deeney, Bradley really spurred and drove us on. What a handful.

all in all i think we missed some key men today. We lost our pattern of play at times. Taundry gave a good account of himself. Bradley had the worst hour of football i've seen yet but got to grips for the end.

I'm pleased with today.

Agree with all but Ishy.!!!!!!!!!

Frustrating,Frustrating,very very frustrating.For one with so much supposed ability,his application and effort (IMO) is very poor.

[Pedagogue]

You're slating others, concerning Ishy being ineligible, yet forecasting him to score yourself. :lol:

As Ishy played, today, I assume that there must be a hot-line, with the latest inside news, running from Bescot to South Wales! :D

[Whitti Steve]

I thought first half was neck and neck. Both sides had chances. They probably spent more time in our half, but i thought we had the more clear cut chances, few headers.

The first twenty minutes of the second half there was only one side - Doncaster. Our young team seemed to lose its head for about 15 minutes. Misplaced passes, men not being picked up, then we changed it round, we would have been greatful for a point after 65 minutes, but by 90 minutes it was Doncaster greatful for the point.

I thought Nicholls, Ishy(his last 10 mins) , Deeney, Bradley really spurred and drove us on. What a handful.

all in all i think we missed some key men today. We lost our pattern of play at times. Taundry gave a good account of himself. Bradley had the worst hour of football i've seen yet but got to grips for the end.

I'm pleased with today.

Agree with all but Ishy.!!!!!!!!!

Frustrating,Frustrating,very very frustrating.For one with so much supposed ability,his application and effort (IMO) is very poor.

I agree, Burnside got it almost right - Ishy showed why he is usually a bit part player. Sonko and Bradley were poor. Deeney and Nichols made the difference late on.

[Gaz the Train]

I'll take that point, their goal had obviously gone for a throw before hand but you win some you lose some.

[Walsall11]

Bradley was sensational today, and so was sonko :shock: :wink:

[Pedagogue]

A fair score, on balance. Donny were one of the better teams, along with Florist and Swansea, that we have played. Price and Hayter were always a handful, up front and Gerrard and Dann had to be at their best to contain them.

Ince - little to do, but o.k.
Weston - getting better with every game
Gerrard - I think Tony Butler may actually have got something right (for once!) in making him man-of-the-match.
Dann - usual excellent self and a cracking goal!
Fox - o.k. but not at his best
Sonko - why?
Taundry - very promising contribution in midfield - another "plus" for this season
Wrack - quiet, steady game in the midfield anchor rôle
Bradley - not one of his better games but still some moments of class
Demontagnac - always a threat when on the ball but still "day-dreams" when he isn't
Ricketts - his first half performance was probably his best in a Walsall shirt - he was actually winning headers!
Nicholls - ran about a lot but didn't really achieve any end-product
Deeney - see Nicholls
Hall - only on for a few minutes

Surprise starting line-up with Ishy in and Mooney, Deeney and Sweeney out. Our line-up is more suited to playing away and with our restricted choice of strikers we do not appear to have a Plan B. We cannot afford to be without Mooney and Ricketts as Deeney and Nicholls aren't up to it, yet (if they ever will be). Another striker must be top priority, even if we keep Ricketts. The Dingles don't seem to want Freddy Eastwood - he could do good job for us!

Also, even if we sign Sweeney, we still need another box-to-box midfield player. Dobson's only chance of getting back in is if Wrack is injured, as he can only play that very limited rôle of anchor man. He lacks the pace, stamina and skill to play a fuller part in midfield.

So the "win-draw" sequence continues. I'd be happy with a win against Millwall and a draw at Yeovil.

[leics_saddler]

Well it was exactly the result I expected but it was still frustrating. Mooney was missed today and the fact that Walsall played with a 5 somewhere and I still couldn't tell you where tells you everything. Doncaster are a solid side without being particularly good (much like ourselves at times) and had researched us very well and twigged our line up well, so fair play to them.

It was very much like watching an England performance, a war of attrition with a fluke/mistake/set play getting a goal. Their goal was an absolute fluke but the warning was there as Fox kept being pulled out of position by some clever play by them and too often it was left as a 2 on 1. Our goal always looked likely to come from a set piece, only in the last half hour once Money shook things up did open play look promising.

Right, players:

Ince - good reflex save from Hayter but could do nothing about fluke rebound. Little to do otherwise.

Weston - Sound. Attacked well too.
Gerrard - Sound
Dann - Excellent and another goal.
Taundry - Looks a real find. It took me all match to think who he reminded me of (Stig Tofting), he's like a little barrel. Played well, why he was substituted is a mystery

Sonko - Oh dear, if there was a wrong option to pick, Mr Sunshine would pick it. Two best chances of the first hour fell to him alas.
Wrack - Played well enough, but missed Sweeney or somesuch partner.
Bradley - Quiet until shape changed.
Fox - Sound general play, but set piece delivery covered whole range. Gets an assist, so well done for that.

Ricketts - Played very well on his own and not supported enough by the 5 (?)
Demontagnac - Wow, he's hot and cold, isn't he? At times left Fox 2 on 1, then at other times tackled back superbly. His attacking play was subdued at times but thankfully has mastered the art of running into a player's leg and falling over.

Subs:
Nicholls - Busy without achieving much.
Deeney - His first touch was a beauty, winning a corner. Linked play up well. I'd like to see him get a go up top if Mooney's absent any longer.
Hall - Looked tired as anyone else who'd played 80 minutes.

I don't go as anywhere near as often as I ought, but geography and circumstance are against me. But I took Mr Money's plea to heart and came to support the boys and brought two others with me, one of whom hadn't even been since Fellows Park. So MoM is me, which I'll share with Kev, who did his best with a very flat encounter until the closing stages.

I should be very interested to see what (if anything at all) happens in the transfer window now.

[Deano_Saddler]

Ince - Couldn't do mich about the goal. Little to do afterwards.
Weston - Made a few good runs but gave the ball away to much
Gerrard - MOTM definitely, very solid performance
Dann - Solid Performance and took his goal superbly
Fox - Quiet but did his job when needed.
Ishmel - Sometimes left Fox with 2 men to deal with and lost the ball easily at times. Not the best he has ever played but was ok at times.
Taundry - Thought he was very lively in the 1st half and made a couple of good touches and passes, definitely 1 for the future.
Wrack - On and off all game, faded during the 2nd half.
Bradley - Not the best performance but picked it up towards the end.
Sonko - Worst player on the pitch by a million miles.
Ricketts - Probably the best ive seen him in the 1st half but didn't have much support until Nicholls and Deeney came on.

Nicholls - Ran around with no effect but did help Ricketts.
Deeney - Few good runs, he could also be a good player with experience
Hall - Not enough time to make any sort of impact.

[geoffwhiting]

Much has already been said that I agree with, and I thought the scoreline ended about right and what I expected, given Rovers decent form and us missing Mooney.

I had been a bit more worried though when I found that Sweeney was out and Ishy in from the start., Don't know what happened with Sweeney but we missed him a lot and Donny had more of midfield with him absent. Ishy remains an enigma, so much talent but he hardly ever seemed to get to grips with beating a man today, certainly well into the second half before he got going and until then we lost a fair amount of ball through him. I still think he is an impact player, best coming on from the bench when we need to change things and inject some pace.

Haven't seen a comment so far about the atrocious decision of the Ref to play on when Ricketts was head-locked and held back from a goal-scoring chance second-half. That was not only a penalty, but almost certainly a red card in that position as the defender was the last man and the ball was clear of the 'keeper. Ref was close to it, and I find it impossible to understand how he gave nothing, but I guess if we had got the penalty and gone on and won the game it would have been unkind on a very hard-working Donny side who worked their socks off to close us down in numbers all over the pitch.

I was stunned when Taundry was taken off and Sonko stayed on, but happily it was not long before Sonko was also taken (justifiably) out of the action. I like Taundry for his set-piece delivery, and Fox had wasted at least two corners by failing to beat the first defender, so when Fox went up to take another I moaned and wished Taundry was there taking it. But Foxy came good at that moment and delivered a beauty onto Dann's noggin, scores level and I was highly relieved.

I was generally impressed with Donny, though not with one or two of the sly cynical shoves in the back that the Ref tended to either miss or ignore. I must applaud the Ref too ( what me ?? :shock: ) for adding 4 minutes of extra time, so that Donny did not benefit from their blatant time-wasting tactics while they led in the second half.

All in all, I'm content with the point and believe that is what the game, as a whole, warranted.

[leics_saddler]

Apologies Geoff, I knew there was something I missed...

..the referee was a fanny.

[priestley_saddler]

I'd have taken a point before the game, would have been more than happy with one after an hour, and at the end of the game I thought it was a fair result.

I think the line-up was right, but the formation was wrong. We went with 5 across the middle with Taundry making the extra man in midfield. Instead I'd have kept Taundry at left back, played Fox on the wing and put Ishy up front with Ricketts.

Ince - Unlucky with goal
Weston - Gets better by the game
Gerrard - Solid, just edged out Dann for MOTM
Dann - Solid again, back to his prolfic scoring ways
Fox - Quiet by his recent standards, still claims the assist for the goal
Sonko - Not as bad as he has been recently. He was still rubbish, but not as rubbish.
Bradley - Didn't have his best game, but did enough
Wrack - See Bradley
Taundry - Reminds me of a young Dean Keates, looks another promising youngster.
Demontagnac - May well get away with playing whilst suspended as you could forgive anyone who failed to notice he was on the pitch.
Ricketts - Arguably his best game at Bescot since his return. Played as well as he could have up front on his own.

Subs

Nicholls - Winger who was brought on to play up front
Deeney - Striker who was brought on to play on the wing
Hall - Not enough time to do anything

[Registered Saddler]

Agree with the summaries of geoff whiting and pedagogue, apart from to say that the decision to take Taundry off was just to accommodate the change 4-4-2. He'd obviously had a better game than Sonko, but a right side of Weston (my MOTM, by the way) and Taundry would have been a bit negative with us 1-0 down at that stage.

I definitely thought it was a penalty too. And I can't believe no-one's mentioned Donny's chance with the last kick of the game, which looked to me to be a nailed-on goal until he sliced it wide. But 1-1 was absolutely the right scoreline and I doubt we'll meet another side this season who will be so well drilled and work as hard to counteract our tactics and style of play.

[philthesaddler]

Great reporting from the E+S again

Walsall’s great unbeaten run continued with a valuable point at fellow high-flyers Doncaster.

[Goose277]

Apologies Geoff, I knew there was something I missed...

..the referee was a fanny.

Absolutely agree. We nearly lost a board member as I thought Tinned was going to jump over the rail to remonstrate with the ref, such was his anger and frustration :D

[WFC_Rob]

Demontagnac - always a threat when on the ball but still "day-dreams" when he isn't

A threat to our own backline maybe. I'm not saying this just to single him out, but he was poor today and proved why (as King Crimson said during the game) he's still best used as an impact player. That said, our options were limited today.

Considering the fact that we were carrying a couple of anonymous wingers for large parts of the game against a side with a very fluid midfield, a point was a good result.
Sonko is an embarassment at the moment. Not only do basic things like his first touch really let him down, as often happens with a player low on confidence, he flitters around seemingly with no idea of where he is supposed to be. Until we bring in someone else as I fully expect us to in the next couple of weeks, I'd play Paul Hall. Even Deeney plays much better out there than Sonko.

I was disappointed to see Taundry go off as I thought he, Gerrard and Ricketts were the only two who looked like they really wanted the win.
The back four were again solid, as was Wrack. Bradley was disappointing when he had the ball but improved in the last 15 minutes. His mobility in midfield is crucial though as it often forces teams to play the ball backwards, easing the pressure.
Ricketts just carried on his recent form with another excellent showing.

If you take away the ability of the side, which is as good as we've probably had for years, the sheer determination and competitive nature of this team gives me the feeling that we will make the playoffs. This month is crucial to any success with us having an impressive unbeaten record to preserve and at least 3 signings to be made if we are to maintain a push for promotion.

[H]

Thought a draw was a fair result today.

The 4-5-1 formation was frustrating to watch as Donny had alot of the ball in the First Half and we sat quite deep at times with literally 9 men behind the ball. It was difficult for Ricketts to do anything on his own but thought it was actually one of his better games. Money said on WM we would have got murdered if he d have started 4-4-2.....we will now never know but not sure we should be playing with just one up top at Home...?

I think today showed our lack of pace in Midfield as Bradley especially was utterly anonymous for the majority of the 1st half especially. As for Mr Sunshine.......well he was the worst Player on the pitch. It s easy to get on his back at the moment but for his own sake, the Lad should nt even be in 16. He makes the wrong choice seemingly every single time. Ishy.....well some atrocious control and the end product was severly lacking. He s still a danger though because of his pace and his performance picked up 2nd half. Taundry was impressive and seemed so confident on the ball and the back four were once again superb.

Agree with one of the Posts above about the Ricketts penalty claim - it was the most blatant I ve ever seen. Their Lad had got his arms round him!! How the Referee did nt see the incident was unbelievable!

Donny looked a good side today and I m happy with a point. We looked more of an attacking force when the substitutions and change of formation were made. As for the transfer window; a right sided midfield player is a must - neither Hall or Sonko have looked capable of filling that spot. Ricketts would be a great signing as would realistically another Striker to provide cover, as DD obviously does nt see Nicholls or Deeney being able to that job from the start. Have nt seen enough of Sweeney to make a judgement to be honest. We re not looking a bad team at all and should have a decent 2nd half to the season.

[Pedagogue]

I must come back to the subject of the referee. Now, I know that many think that I am just an apologist for the men in black but, as an F.A. Assessor, I can assure you that I have seen (and still see) more rubbish officials than you lot have had hot dinners. I DO know a poor referee when I see one.

Today's referee was NOT a poor official. He had quite a good game, imho. He got one major decision wrong - Deeney did not deserve a yellow card. As for the alleged "penalty", Ricketts clearly pushed into the Doncaster defender first, "making a back" for him. The referee had an excellent, side-on view of the incident. Yes, the defender did, indeed, end up with his arms round Ricketts's neck and shoulders. He had very little choice, given what Ricketts was doing to him! What would you lot do if a bloke as big as Ricketts barged into you? I suppose you'd all be good Christians (sorry, Eddie) and turn the other cheek! Yeah, right! I would have loved it to have been a penalty but, sadly for us, the referee got it right.

It irritates me when, every single match, some, or several, supporters come on here, moaning about the referee. You sound more Premier League managers, every week. In our last eight matches, we have had ONE poor referee - that pillock at Port Vale, Joslin.

If you feel you are such experts at that dead easy job of refereeing, then enrol on the next referees' course, at Rushall Olympic F.C. and see if you can improve the quality of the pool of referees in this country, or even just become a better informed spectator. Cynic that I am, I'm not expecting to be trampled to death, in the rush of volunteers. :twisted:

[big baz 1]

Another step in the right direction for my favourite walsall player ishy, i wasnt best pleased when he took taundry off. Ishy annoys me a lot when at times in the game he looked like wither he was fast asleep or he couldnt be bothered.All part of his learning process .