'Never recovered' Walsall fan verdict after Fleetwood Town defeat

Dave Evans

Walsall started off reasonably well enough for the first 12 minutes then came a terrible five minutes spell in which the game was lost. 

Firstly Rooney was allowed to head home unmarked. From my angle in the seats and judging from those Saddlers fans closer behind the goal, it was never a corner that led to their second from which Bolton had the freedom to steer the ball home. 

Utterly depressing start from which Walsall never recovered. Much work needs to be done on defending set plays, clearly. The absence of Jamille Matt was there for all to see. Loanee Evan Wheatley was hardly given anything to feed off and Albert Adomah started one game too many. 

It is hoped that another striker, this time with experience, can be added before the transfer window closes. For me, this performance was a continuation of the Bradford one. Too many defensive mistakes, not enough energy or ideas in midfield and a toothless attack without Jamma is miles away from where need to be and should be at. 

Jamie Jellis wasn't on it at all and came back too soon, got himself booked and when he was substituted looked totally cheesed off. At least with the introduction of Josh Gordon, who looked interested and alert, there was a bit of urgency and pace about trying to get back into the game. 

The way 'Flash' was fouled by the halfway line when about to race clear and the perpetrator, James Bolton, already on a yellow card, should surely have received a second but the referee took no further action to the annoyance of the travelling supporters.  

One of those nights unfortunately where not much went our way. The stats show Saddlers had 57 per cent of the play with eleven shots to their four yet both keepers had so very little to do. With points dropped elsewhere we are still eleven points clear but need to get back to winning ways on Saturday. Keep the faith!

Vital Walsall

Another poor display from the Saddlers on Tuesday night. We looked short of creativity, ideas and quality in that performance. First half conceding the goal we did in that manner gives you an uphill task to get back in the game. 

An element I have recognised in the last couple away games is teams working us out. Teams are now putting us on the back foot in the first half and sealing the job and frustrating us second half. 

Teams are getting in and around our midfield players and putting us on the back foot. Sadler's job now is to tweak what we're doing and change it slightly. I would have liked to seen us change the formation and some of our play. A formation change could have gave Fleetwood something to think about, potentially changing to a flat back 4 as the wing-backs were ineffective last night. 

Also the service into the front two was terrible all night. We were lumping balls to the likes of Wheatley, Adomah, Gordon and Johnson which ultimately isn’t their game. And finally, even though it hasn’t been at the standards we have set ourselves in the last couple games, it’s not time to panic. We need a massive response on Saturday 100 per cent, but you go through dips in form thought out the season. We've got to stick together and overcome this.

Simon Ward (Walsall Fan TV)

 We've known it for a while but this season has gone so well partly due to the form of Jamille Matt. When Jamma is out the team we look much weaker, previously Nathan Lowe had led the line well but the young lad from Manchester United doesn't appear to have the same aerial presence. 

Ethan Wheatley is clearly a great talent but two things need to happen. Firsly, he needs to get up to speed with the press our strikers do and secondly, we need to give him the ball when he is looking for it. 

We have Ronan Maher waiting in the wings and he is more of a ball carrier than any of our other midfielders so unless a new man is coming in, it could be his chance to shine if Mat Sadler thinks he is up to the job. 

Teams raise their game against us and have learnt to block off some of our threats so the coaching team need to find a new element to help us create.