2/8/08 - Port Fail (a)

[PerStener]

Saturday, August 2nd (kick-off 3.00pm)

Visiting supporters will be accommodated in the Hamil Road Stand, where it will be pay on the turnstiles at £8 (adults), £4 (concessions - juniors age 18 and under and seniors 60+) and £1 for youngsters under the age of nine.

[Stephen]

Many going up on the train?

Number 21 bus from the end of the road (left out of the station) goes up to Burslem.

[tape66]

Walsall 2 Port Vale 0

Duke to wear purple braces.

[gerryhatrick]

Walsall 2 Port Vale 0

Duke to wear purple braces.

Strange time of life to worry about crooked teeth.

[Duke]

Walsall 2 Port Vale 0

Duke to wear purple braces.

:?

7-0 to the Super Saddlers btw :D

[Dynamo Zuffle]

I might still be able to make the match if the test carry’s on the way it’s going at the moment.

[saddlersam]

Going to atttepmt to get there this Saturday. I'll miss the Port Fail games. I see them as one of our big rivals myself.

[RED 5]

Not going to this one!

Port Vail 0 Walsall 2!

[4143]

I predict match postponed due to pool tournament plug. :mrgreen:

[Cheesebag]

Walsall 2 Port Vale 0

Duke to wear purple braces.

Strange time of life to worry about crooked teeth.

I like what you did there.

[Wyrley_saddler]

1-0 Saddlers, Ricketts

[Ned_Kelly]

Walsall 2 Port Vale 0

Duke to wear purple braces.

Strange time of life to worry about crooked teeth.

I like what you did there.

Creep.... Got some new "Beer pump" springs in or summat :D

[gerryhatrick]

Walsall 2 Port Vale 0

Duke to wear purple braces.

Strange time of life to worry about crooked teeth.

I like what you did there.

Creep.... Got some new "Beer pump" springs in or summat :D

Been out of the trade for a while now, Ned. Saw the downturn in beer sales coming
a long time ago but needed to see out my tenancy. Man of leisure now, so expect to
meet up anytime soon.

[Pedagogue]

A reminder to all our fans travelling up the A500 to Burslem - don't forget to show the appropriate respect to Port Fail's good friends and neighbours, just promoted to the Premier League.

When you see the S**tannia Stadium, on your right, salute the conquering heroes; (i) a reverse Churchillian gesture, using the first two fingers or (ii) a single digit sign with the second finger to indicate how many seasons that the Clayheads will stay in the Premier League or (iii) a circular sign, made with the thumb and index finger (the Nescafé gesture for the benefit of our older posters) to show how many league victories they will have in the coming season. You know it makes sense! :mrgreen:

[Welsh_Saddler]

Single digit sign should be the third finger, surely?

And yes, I reserve the right to call you Shirley....... :wink:

[gerryhatrick]

Single digit sign should be the third finger, surely?

And yes, I reserve the right to call you Shirley....... :wink:

You've been with the sheep fanciers for too long. It's Daphne the second finger.

[Jolly Johnny]

Single digit sign should be the third finger, surely?

And yes, I reserve the right to call you Shirley....... :wink:

Depends whether you count the thumb as a finger or not I suppose!! :)
As I'll be approaching port vale from the other direction I'll have to serve up my salute and volley it over the city towards the stadium!! :wink:

[Sadders]

Who's playing?...Anymore trialists?....0-1 Walsall ,Ricketts to score the goal. :lol:

[kpritchard05]

the attached is all the team news and stephen hughes is playing

http://www.port-vale.premiumtv.co.uk/pa ... 38,00.html

[Neuromantic]

1-0. Jabo.

[Neuromantic]

1-1. Gerrard at fault.

[cal wfc fan]

1-2 Rickets

[Sadders]

How do you guys get these updates, are you at the ground.

[Four Oaks Saddler]

How do you guys get these updates, are you at the ground.

There's updates on Radio WM who are commentating live from the Golden Graveyard (quelle surprise!!), although i'm not sure how much use that is given your location because the online listening facility doesn't seem to be working.

[Sadders]

Are we still winning?.

[WarsawPact]

Yes.

Hughes, Zabooub & Nicholls(?) off for Taundry, Demontagnac & Reich.

[supersaddler85]

finished 2-1

[OldPenkSaddler]

Port Vale 1 2 Walsall
Attendance:- 1297 - about 200 walsall
Walsall (4-4-2)

Clayton Ince

Chris Palmer (Keegan Ayre)
Anthony Gerrard (Manny Smith)
Steve Roberts
Netan Sansara

Alex Nicholls ( Marco Reich)
Dwayne Mattis
Steven Hughes (Capt.)(Richard Taundry)
Sofienne Zaaboub(Ishmael Demontagnac)

Michael Ricketts (Troy Deeney)
Jabo Ibehre

Decent work out against a poor side. Jabo scored his first goal for the club following excellent work by Nicholls on the right who beat his full back and crossed for Jabo to hold off his marker and slot home well from 12 yards.

Fail equalised following poor defending by Gerrard and Roberts and poor positioning by Ince who let in a soft goal.

Ricketts capitalised on defensive blunder to coolly slot home this being his only real contribution to the game.

Plus points - Jabo played quite well but missed 3 decent chances he'd made for himself with very poor finishing.

Negative points - Zaaboub, Hughes and Ricketts were anonymous. Roberts still worries me in the air and his partnership with Gerrard looks a bit weak. Fail easily played the ball between then on a number of occasions.

Reich is very unfit and should not be considered for a starting place. When Zaaboub was subbed he took his top off and flung it in the dug-out. Sophie wouldn't be my choice as the starting left sided midfielder - very inconsistent.

A promising game petered out to a boring stalemate with too many substitutions by both sides.

Cheese pasties were excellent and Bovril very hot - pretty much the highlight of the day for me :)

[Frazy85]

Thought id share my views since there was hardly anyone there! Bad attendance by Port Vale and they dont look up to much this season. My dad will no doubt put something on here too :wink: (shropsaddler)

Ince - Dont think i saw him make a proper save, kicking was still a bit off but apart from that normal Ince

Palmer - Didnt look as good as tuesday night, got beaten to a lot of balls but got better as it went on i thought

Sansara - Looked really poor today, took a kick at a vale player stupidly at one point as well, looked off the pace.

Roberts - Looked a bit dodgy to begin with and im not sure if it was his fault for the goal, but also seemed to get better.

Gerrard - Unless it was his fault for the goal, then it looked like normal Gerrard, safe at the back.

Nicholls - Worked very hard again, hit the bar in the second half, and did well on the wing, set up the first goal by turning the winger, good game for him.

Zaaboub - I wasnt a fan after tuesday, but i thought he played better in this game, still without really playing that well, but did some nice crosses and runs, and definitely showed a lot more promise. Looks like he has a attitude problem though, and threw his shirt down when he was brought off for ishy.

Hughes - Didn't do an awful lot but what i saw him do he seemed to do well. Looked comfortable and played some nice passes and made some good tackles.

Mattis - Looked very good again like tuesday night, always first to the ball, made some great tackles again.

Ibhere - A transformation from tuesday night, first half he was absoloutely superb, got a great goal and almost scored another brilliant goal where he beat the two defenders to the ball. However second half he was hardly in the game and looked tired and poor.

Ricketts - Looked a bit off the pace today, dosent seem full fit still, but his goal was superbly done, i think taking ibhere off would have been the better option than ricketts.

Subs -

Smith - Didnt have to do too much but seemed to do the job well, and made some good clearing headers.

Reich - Looked like he showed touches of class from time to time, but he just looked a bit lazy, and didnt show the determination to get to the ball first like nicholls had.

Ishy - Came on and did pretty awful again. Didnt look very bothered, and took up some bad positions, im worried the left wing is going to be a big problem this season.

Taundry - Came on and still couldnt make the impact we are used to, but is getting better each match. Almost scored a great solo goal too.

Ayre - Apparently this was Ayre, we thought it was Bradley? :? But i didnt see too much of him, didnt seem to do anything wrong though.

Deeney - Thought he did quite well when he came on, tried hard as we know Deeney always does, but showed promise.

The game was pretty enjoyable, the second half was a lot more boring though, we seemed to sit back quite a lot in the second half and didnt attack much. But it was a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon anyway!

[ShropsSaddler]

Thought id share my views since there was hardly anyone there! Bad attendance by Port Vale and they dont look up to much this season. My dad will no doubt put something on here too :wink: (shropsaddler)!

Your dad's here!! :lol:

Pretty much agree with Frazy's assessment of an excellent pre-season game. My first look at the team so I had no pre-conceptions. So, for what it's worth, a few thoughts;

Palmer - I don't like the look of him, although he will be a decent bench player once others are fit I guess.

Sansara - good that he's getting some games but really doesn't seem ready for this level yet. Got better as the game went on but didn't impress. I actually thought the goal may have been partly his fault and partly Hughes. Hughes didn't follow the runner but, if Boertien had been playing, I suspect he would have been sweeping behind the centre-half in that position.

Hughes - very harsh Penk. Hughes looked like he needed to catch up with pre-season but he did the simple things well, he was always available for the ball and, vitally, he was shouting and organising from the middle. He looks like an excellent captain. He's like a more mobile, more vocal Dobson...oh, and he can make 5 yard passes as well!!

Mattis - absolutely superb. Closes his man down so quickly and never lets him settle on the ball.

Zaboub - thought he played ok. Tracked back well. Some decent passes. Yes, he threw his shirt down when subbed...I don't mind that, it shows he wants to play. Schofield had a quick word with him and he went and did some warm-down exercises (a sign of a player who takes his fitness seriously)

Ibehre - based on just this performance, we could have the find of the season. A superb display. Vale defenders were completely unable to deal with his strength and running. Yes his shooting looks poor but if he gets in those positions often enough, he'll get enough goals

Ricketts - looked a yard off the pace, but still contributed some nice passing and flicks and showed signs of forming a partnership with Jabo. Took his goal superbly. A real opportunist goal that few at our level would have scored so easily.

My only disagreement with my lad is about Deeney. Oh dear. 110% effort, 0% end product. His effort always seems to be in chasing down balls that he should have won anyway. He really needs to go out on loan.

Fingers crossed and touch wood there was enough there to suggest we could have a really good season. And what is now becoming very clear is that we HAVE spent a lot of money on bringing in some class players. We have Roberts, Hughes, Mattis, Recih, Zaboub and Ricketts who must all be earning decent money and must have cost some money in signing-on fees. That's a lot more that we've done over the last few seasons. Well done to the club on making good on that commitment.