Walsall blog: All at a cost

Walsall blogger Mark Jones charts the cost of the late goal and charts the saving of the VAT drop through the eyes of the Saddlers faithful.

I've just spent the whole weekend analysing all of Walsall's recent performances. Here is what I've noticed: -

18.10.08 (H) Hartlepool Lost 3-2: A late goal by the opposition seals an unlikely comeback, as the Saddlers contrived to lose a two goal lead in the last 17 minutes.

21.10.08 (A) Leicester Drew 2-2: A late goal by the opposition takes a little bit of the gloss off what was a decent performance.

25.10.08 (A) Leeds Lost 3-0: A late goal by the opposition seals a routine win for the ex-big boys.

1.11.08 (H) Northampton Won 3-1: A late goal by the opposition sparks panic on the streets of Walsall, as everyone in the home end fears a repeat of the Hartlepool catastrophe.

4.11.08 (H) Luton Lost 1-0: A late goal by the opposition seals a thoroughly deserved win by the League's bottom club in the Johnstones Paint Trophy, on a truly dreadful and depressing night for the Saddlers.

8.11.08 (H) Scunthorpe Lost 3-1: A late goal by the opposition clinches a comprehensive victory for the visitors in the FA Cup, underlining the gulf in class between the top teams in League One and the also-rans.

15.11.08 (A) Colchester Won 2-0: No late goal by the opposition, who could still be playing now and wouldn't have scored, in our only clean sheet in the last 157 games.

22.11.08 (H) MK Scabs Lost 3-0: A late goal by the opposition gave them a flattering yet (cue the sound of gritted teeth) comfortable scoreline and prompted Mark Wright's ridiculous histrionics.

25.11.08 (A) Oldham Lost 3-2: A late goal by the opposition's notorious deadly ginger striker denied our boys what would have been a deserved point.

29.11.08 (H) Swindon Won 2-1: A late goal by the opposition, seconds after Alex Nicholls' had put us two up, leads to an unnecessarily anxious injury time.

6.12.08 (A) Huddersfield Lost 2-1: A late goal by the opposition once again denies us the points, in a game where we could and should have wrapped up a welcome three points long before injury time.

Now there's definitely a pattern in there somewhere!

Seriously though, these statistics are truly shocking. Even the best teams let in the odd late goal, to do it once or twice over the course of eleven games could be considered unlucky - but ten times is simply not good enough.

Granted, not all of those late goals have changed results, they've probably 'only' cost three points (or five if you count all of the goals in the Hartlepool collapse) and spared us the obligatory penalty shoot out defeat to Luton.

But they have worsened our goal difference by at least eight, caused a more than a few shaky moments in our defence and done absolutely nothing for either the players' self confidence or our faith in them.

It needs sorting, and quick.

I have to congratulate the club on a marvellous piece of spin last week, with the announcement that the recent VAT decrease would be passed on to us fans with reductions in merchandise and half-season tickets.

Thanks a lot, but isn't that what they were supposed to do anyway? It's basic economics.

If you keep prices the same when the rate of VAT drops by 2.5 per cent, then that's effectively an increase in real terms, one that cannot possibly be justified.

Interestingly enough, match ticket prices won't come down until January 1, apparently because some tickets for December games had already been sold.

Yeah and I had already bought some Christmas presents in November but I don't expect to see those goods at the same price in the shops now. Come on, we're not stupid.

Maybe if they really wanted to do us a favour in the current financial climate then, with interest rates at a 57 year low, somebody at the club could persuade the landlord to drop the rent and stimulate a bit of January spending. Now that would be an economic miracle.