Tranmere (H) - 26th December 2005 - League

[Bitter Tree Hugger]

The answer being you are utter sh!te, so are we, and so is eveyone else in this turd of a division. That's why today of the top 6 Hudds scraped a draw with Rovrum, Swansea "worldbeaters" city lost to Brentford, Chesterfield donkey (but probably make the play-offs 80's 11) drew with Scunny, and Sarfend, just up from division 4 via the play-offs United juiced a home 0-0 with Franchise.

It's utter utter utter utter utter uter shYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYte.
I've been watching football at all levels for 30 odd years, and this third division should be done under the trades description act.

That said I'll be at Bradford and Barnsley freezing me taters off for more garbage. As I dare say you will BTH, that's why the jokes that are these football clubs get to charge what they do.

Too true Geordie !!

[addo]

How can we have fryatt on his own, but be outnumbered in midfield?

Arent they pretty much mutually exclusive?

I don't understand what you are saying.
Are you telling me that you saw it differently ?

Fryatt had 3 different partners through the game but he was the only one that looked like doing anything against the big 3 Tranmere centre backs.

Playing against a 3-5-2 formation, it was obvious that with 2 wide players the central 2 in midfield were always going to be outnumbered.

[Magic Man Fan]

Absolutley dreadful. No invention from midfield whatsoever.

Taylor created our only realy chance (which says a lot cos he has the touch of a ...... << you know the saying) right at the end with a perfect cross for header who although a brilliant players hasn't been told by our illustrious leader the first rule of heading which is to head it back across the goal from whence it came.

The slide down the table a la last season starts here. Mark my words.

[Pedagogue]

How can we have Fryatt on his own but be outnumbered in midfield?

Aren't they pretty much mutually exclusive?

A very good question which merely underlines what many of us have been saying all season - namely that our midfield is, and has been all season, utterly crap. Wholesale changes are needed in this department.

Ossie has been infinitely better than last season but he is still not what we need. He plays a very restricted role well BUT it is a VERY restricted role. He operates in a zone, a few yards square, just in front of the back four, rarely venturing out. If he attempts a penetrative pass of more than 10 yards, it invariably goes to an opponent. He is asked to cover such little ground that I reckon he could continue playing that role until he is ninety! He has been a good player but that is all in the past.

The same could be said of Kinsella but, in fairness to him, he has not had a run in the side. Also, the ONLY time we have looked good in midfield was the one game that Kinsella and Skora played together.

Kris Taylor and Standing are both gifted players but, equally, both are bone idle. If we intend to carry Ossie or Kinsella in midfield, it is imperative that the other midfielders work their socks off. This pair's idea of marking is to stand 10 yards away from their opponent. They do not defend well, if at all. They do not get forward and support the (usually lone) striker.

We need young, fit legs and lungs in midfield, box-to-box players who will WORK (sorry to use that four-letter word!) for 90 minutes and not stroll and pose. Of the wide midfield players/wingers, the Demon is now available again and Wright MAY have remembered how to cross a ball when he returns but don't bank on it! I felt sorry for Daryl Taylor. He had an absolute "'mare" today and he needs a run in the reserves to build his confidence and fitness back up.

The team's poor condition and low fitness levels were again apparent. Wycombe on Tuesday and then Tranmere today, both got well on top in the last 20 minutes. Hardly surprising as we have only trained for 2 hours in the previous five days (on Friday). With a manager who clearly sees fitness as a low priority (are you reading this, Zippy?) then it is not too surprising that our midfield is consistently over-run.

I am not too keen on keeping Fox in midfield (is he fit yet?) but he will have to do, as a stop-gap.

We will continue to underachieve until the fitness and work-rate of our midfield is greatly improved. With an infusion of Skora-type players, we may even get more out of Fryatt (who must be well p*ssed-off with the poor service and lack of support from midfield) and also spread the goalscoring responsibility around a bit.

The transfer window is nearly with us. With Leitao and, hopefully, Smith going, I hope Merson can do some wheeler-dealing and possibly even get rid of some of our existing unfit shirkers.

[geoffwhiting]

Have to say the Terrace Restaurant today was lovely and warm and the food was bloody sooooooo-perb - all seven courses of it !

I am so glad I booked that instead of going to watch yet another below-par performance - following so closely on the previous one of the same against Hartlepool, when we played very poorly but stole three points we certainly can't claim to have deserved.

I just hope the away form takes a turn for the better starting Wednesday! :cry:

[Magic Man Fan]

The transfer window is nearly with us. With Leitao and, hopefully, Smith going, I hope Merson can do some wheeler-dealing and possibly even get rid of some of our existing unfit shirkers.

Good post Leamore but if we get rid of our existing unfit shirkers Merson will only replace them with fit players who he turns into unfit shirkers through lack of disciplince, training regime and responsibility.

[NOTORIOUS_VIP]

no creativity in midfield!

[Surrey Saddler]

Great post Leamore. I was watching Kris Taylor all afternoon. All he did was just stroll around. Get rid.

[Cheesebag]

I have analysed my thoughts in order to avoid contradiction, to make a clear summary of what happened and the way forward, so here goes....



















That was poo.

[Whitti Steve]

Geoff - the reason the lads drew 0-0 was so your meal didn't get interupted with "text alerts" I hope you didn;t get any... because there was nothing to report!!!! Says it all really!

[Pelsall_Saddler]

I think we will give you a good game. Got a feeling its not going to be easy for you lot we are no push overs, we just fudge don't score enough goals this season but if we have Steve Wilson in goal, I know we are at a disadvantage.

Saying that, if it wasn't for a couple of decent saves from Wilson we would have won.

[tinned]

I've been saying for a season and a half now that our problem is our midfield. They don't protect the defence and they certainly don't overlap the strikers. They basically stand about 10 foot off the toes of the defence and do sweet FA.

Did anyone notice that Osborn was given the Merson role today, in that every attack had to go through him before we could continue ? Wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't that he was a total pile of poo today.

I'm not suprised Jorge is leaving, I'd imagine he's getting dizzy from all the changes in position (right wing, left wing, up front, right wing again). Ray Graydon went a whole season with 1 formation, we get about 6 per game under clueless Merson.

What a Boxing Day cracker :roll:

[dler]

Where's Zippy? Is he a hypocritical piece of cack? Or has he finally accepted that Merson is totally useless?

Get rid.

[Magic Man Fan]

He rarely posts on the match threads because that would mean dealing in facts and facing questions head on that he can't skirt around like in the other forums.

[Saddler Jim]

As a match this was terrible,Walsall were bad and Tranmere not much better.I agree that Gerrard was the best player on the pitch by far.everything else as been said,we had a gate of 6,500 today and a chance to get a few hundred back to the ground on a regular basis with a decent performance,whate happened they cocked it up as they always do.so its back to the same old mugs like me and a few others and they know who they are to keep the club going,I just dispair at the whole bloody situation.

[London Saddler]

Unbelieveably pathetic stuff from 2 dreadfully abysmal sides. Fans arn't stupid and very few were fooled by several successive home wins as evident by the fact that we have lost about 1000-1250 fans since the start of the season. A lot of those probably returned today and wil have gone away thinking they made absolutely the right decision and won't be back in a hurry. And any new fans won't be back till probably next Boxing Day after the garbage they witnessed today

Tranmere were totally useless and came to waste time, feign injury and put 11 men behind the ball and go home witha point. And they achieved their goal. They are struggling badly this season and are a perfect example of what happens to a good team when they lose key players and don't replace them. Last season they completed a very comfortable double over us but looked a completely crap outfit this season

Defensively Ropes and Gerrard yet again were superb. Ropes as usual won 95-99% of the headers in defense and Gerrard was MOM by a mile. Its still hard to believe that the 3rd rate Westwood was repeatedly chosen ahead of both of them earlier this season. Murphy had very little to do today, but he was comfortable in the very rare occasion he was called upon. Pead tried as he usually does but lacks any physical presence, any pace and any quality in his passing. His afternoon was spent hoofing long balls up to their defense to gobble up. Bennett was crap all afternoon. Crap tacking, crap passing, crap defending. As, in my opinion, Fox this season has been crap in defense and passing, left back is still a big problem for us

Merse yet again totally messed up midfield. We started with Jorge on left wing and Standing on right wing. Standing is usually too useless even in his correct position of central midfield, so to play him on the wing was a total disaster. It was between him and Kris Taylor for the worst players on the pitch. Kris's performance was summed up by the casual dreadful error which saw them score but luckily was ruled out for offside. At one point, Jorge moved to right wing, then he played up front, then he went right wing again. Standing was moved around a bit. Daryl Taylor started right wing and ended up left wing. Osborn yet again was crap and for a few games now we have been seeing the Osbourne of last season. Daryl Taylor makes Wright look like Beckham and it was no surprise when he missed an open goal at the end. We looked slow, ponderous and lacking any pace or invention. We missed Ishmael big time and he must return for Bradford. And the huge Tranmere defense who have been ripped apart by teams recently, could hardly believe their luck when all they had to do today was head our ale house balls away

Fryatt as usual was excellent. Ok he missed the chance at the end but he was perhaps too shattered from having to spend the match chasing back passes to generate some excitement as he realised that our incompetent midfield were not going to create any chances. Jorge gaave 100% as usual but probably got dizzy from being swopped from position to position. The only surprise with Constable was that he actually lasted till half time as he looked out of his depth and needs to be used as a sub to get a feel of this standard of football

I'm more worried than usual. We have 4 winnable games against struggling teams in the festive period (Tranmere, Bradford, Blackpool and Bristol city) and have made a bad start. Now we are entering the period where traditionally Walsall Fc starts to struggle (from January onwards) and it is imperative we pick up points to ensure survival as if Fryatt leaves, we may end up with Constable and Lorassa up front! Bradford have one of the worst home records of the division and even with our crap away record, we need at least a pont there followed by must win home game against Blackpool

[Magic Man Fan]

I was talking to Kris Taylor's mom after the game and he is still suffering badly with his foot injury which isn't healing very well and is still not right. After every game he has severe bruising in the same spot. It has to affect his ability to play well as he's always been a good performer in midfield in the past.

I hate to say it but Osborn has slipped back into his performances of last season since his return from injury and looks nowhere near the player we had earlier in the season. Then again he's never suited playing in a 4-4-2 for us since he joined us.

[Exile]

I predict that people will look back on this match and say (finally) that it was the beginning of the end.

There'll possibly be a brief rally (i.e. false dawn number 317) to mid-January, then the whole season will implode.

[SaigonSaddler]

Christ - all very negative!

Was it really that bad??? You lot were there I suppose so I guess it must have been :(

What does the future hold for Walsall FC :?:

[Geordiesaddler]

Leamore - it's the thought of Merson wheeler dealing that fills me with dread for 2006, especially if it is with the Fryatt money.

By the time we do get a proper manager we will be back in the same situation Graydon inherited - about 8 pros on the books, no money, and 3,500 fans coming through the gates. Merson has been a very, very lucky manager to have several inherited players, particularly Fryatt carry his woeful attempt at being a football manager. Yes he has done well to sign the likes of Fox and Gerrard, and even Murphy second time around, but there his positives as a manager end I'm afraid, and that's not good enough coming up to 20 months in the job.

[Neil Ravenscroft]

I was talking to Kris Taylor's mom after the game and he is still suffering badly with his foot injury which isn't healing very well and is still not right. After every game he has severe bruising in the same spot. It has to affect his ability to play well as he's always been a good performer in midfield in the past.

I hate to say it but Osborn has slipped back into his performances of last season since his return from injury and looks nowhere near the player we had earlier in the season. Then again he's never suited playing in a 4-4-2 for us since he joined us.

Sorry, MMF, but, as I said in the match report (now on line) the reason Ossie was in trouble is he was playing them on his own. Taylor, Taylor and Standing were utterly ineffective and, because we had no width (again), there was no release pass.

[geoffwhiting]

Also, who's to know that Ozzie isn't still feeling his injury, if it's a good enough reason for Kris Taylor, maybe it's good enough for Ozzie. He's been out quite a lot in recent months after all.

In fact, maybe that's what's wrong with the lot of 'em - except Roper, Gerrard and Murphy - none of 'em have actually recovered from their injuries - it's all falling (a) into place, and (b) apart !

[Neil Ravenscroft]

Also, who's to know that Ozzie isn't still feeling his injury, if it's a good enough reason for Kris Taylor, maybe it's good enough for Ozzie. He's been out quite a lot in recent months after all.

In fact, maybe that's what's wrong with the lot of 'em - except Roper, Gerrard and Murphy - none of 'em have actually recovered from their injuries - it's all falling (a) into place, and (b) apart !

It might help if they were fit, Geoff.

[Bernie]

London Saddler, I agree with everything except for your views on our left-backs. Bennett had a fair game, he put in some good tackles and was positive going forward, while Fox has looked good in that position.

Our midfield of Standing, Osborn and Kris Taylor have often played together in midfield for us. When we were having our terrible run last season I rather think that they were a regular trio behind Merson. They are rubbish individually, but putting the three together is a disaster waiting to happen.

[futuresobright]

Even as a compulsive happy clapper I am amazed at the lack of criticism directed at two of the players...namely Pead and Osborn. From day one it was clear that Pead was hopeless. He's slow, weak in the tackle, reluctant to push forward and poor in the air. The odd clearance off the line does not alter the fact that PM is way off the mark in consistently selecting him. I'd much prefer to try Westwood in his position.
As for Osborn...have we ever had worse user of the ball from free kicks. He's obsessed with taking them quickly and invariably setting up a conter attack for the opposition. Let's face it he's a poor man's Samways...and that's pretty poor. Get rid asap. If he's half the player Neil judges him to be teams should be lining up to take him off our hands.

All in all an encouraging performance however. It was particularly pleasing to see how strong we were at the end of the game. One problem we don't have is a lack of fitness. Well done PM and the backroom staff for preparing the lad's so well. With Ishmel and Mark Wright soon back things look good for 2006.

[Neil Ravenscroft]

Even as a compulsive happy clapper I am amazed at the lack of criticism directed at two of the players...namely Pead and Osborn. From day one it was clear that Pead was hopeless. He's slow, weak in the tackle, reluctant to push forward and poor in the air. The odd clearance off the line does not alter the fact that PM is way off the mark in consistently selecting him. I'd much prefer to try Westwood in his position.
As for Osborn...have we ever had worse user of the ball from free kicks. He's obsessed with taking them quickly and invariably setting up a conter attack for the opposition. Let's face it he's a poor man's Samways...and that's pretty poor. Get rid asap. If he's half the player Neil judges him to be teams should be lining up to take him off our hands.

All in all an encouraging performance however. It was particularly pleasing to see how strong we were at the end of the game. One problem we don't have is a lack of fitness. Well done PM and the backroom staff for preparing the lad's so well. With Ishmel and Mark Wright soon back things look good for 2006.

Quite amazing irony, there. How do you do it?

[Pedagogue]

It might help if they were fit, Geoff.

Fit? fit? ........... Good grief, man, do you realise what you have just suggested? That would mean that they would have to do fitness and conditioning training !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a revolutionary idea would never do! I mean, there would be a danger that we would win more matches! :lol: :lol:

[Neil Ravenscroft]

It's the reply from futuressobright that gets me. Fit? We were second to every 50/50, lost every "second" ball and lost every physical challenge and he says we were well prepared!

[sid swifty]

Well from all the feedback i have had it seems there was no value for money again yesterday (suprise suprise!)and i dare say you will still have the "WELL AT LEAST WE GOT A POINT" brigade, which is fine but as i have said before you need to attract new fans to the club all the time just to make up for people who die or move away from the area,but walsall are'nt even able to attract people like me who have supported them man and boy for 45yrs that i can remember, and another 2yrs that i was too young to remember,(SO PLEASE NO LECTURES ON LOYALTY).

I am however going to make the trip to watch the blackpool game with my sons (just for the sake of tradition really)but the thing that bothers me is that they will probably play so badly that i may not wish to go and watch them again now that i have realised that there are less stressfull ways to spend a saturday afternoon. And one of the things that has made me think that i may well not want to watch them again was hearing merson on the radio yesterday saying something like "now the younger players can see us getting closer to the play-offs i have got to try to keep their feet on the ground" . Now i know we have scraped the odd result lately but for merson still to be in a state denial over quality of our football is mind blowing,and i cant beleive that whalley or bonser have'nt tapped him on the shoulder and said "come on pall there is nobody turning up to watch us,so how about different approach,like some entertainment".

[geoffwhiting]

Even as a compulsive happy clapper I am amazed at the lack of criticism directed at two of the players...namely Pead and Osborn. From day one it was clear that Pead was hopeless. He's slow, weak in the tackle, reluctant to push forward and poor in the air. The odd clearance off the line does not alter the fact that PM is way off the mark in consistently selecting him. I'd much prefer to try Westwood in his position.
As for Osborn...have we ever had worse user of the ball from free kicks. He's obsessed with taking them quickly and invariably setting up a conter attack for the opposition. Let's face it he's a poor man's Samways...and that's pretty poor. Get rid asap. If he's half the player Neil judges him to be teams should be lining up to take him off our hands.

All in all an encouraging performance however. It was particularly pleasing to see how strong we were at the end of the game. One problem we don't have is a lack of fitness. Well done PM and the backroom staff for preparing the lad's so well. With Ishmel and Mark Wright soon back things look good for 2006.

This can only be a pi$$-take. You say just about everything in direct contrast to what we all know to be true. Do you EVER watch a game at Bescot?