Chris Marsh: A snowy throwback to my Walsall playing days
Watching players from Peterborough and Walsall sliding around a snow-covered pitch on Tuesday night was like a throwback to my own playing days.
It is certainly a sight rarely seen in the modern game, though I must admit that, through all of my career, I can never recall players grabbing brooms to sweep the lines as some of Posh’s did.
Credit should go to the referee, along both sets of players and managers, particularly Jon Whitney. I played under numerous managers – naming no names – who would have done their utmost to get the game called off had they been in Jon’s position, with their team trailing and the clock ticking down.
Of course, back then, being faced with a tricky surface was a far more regular occurrence, especially during the winter months.
I remember one trip to Blackpool in the snow and sleet under Jan Sorenson, when the main instruction we received was to kick the ball into a huge puddle – in truth it was more like a lake – which had formed on one side of the Bloomfield Road pitch.
These days, there would be no chance of the game ever kicking off. But things were a lot different back then.
It makes me smile when I see pictures of players training during the winter now, wearing all their warm gear – gloves, hats, even balaclavas!
When he was Walsall boss, Chris Nicholl wouldn’t even let us wear long-sleeved shirts, while hats were banned.
Chris himself would be stood there, whatever the weather, in a pair of tiny shorts and a T-shirt.
“This is how centre-halves behave!” he always used to say.
As eye-catching as the weather made Tuesday’s game, the result was a hugely disappointing one.
Walsall deserve credit for the way they had scraped together points prior to the last two games but all of a sudden it is now back-to-back defeats and the sense fortune is not favouring them.
Blackburn was always going to be something of a freebie and in my view Tuesday’s game then became much tougher the moment Peterborough decided to sack their manager Grant McCann over the weekend.
Those games, against teams who have just lost their manager, are always the toughest, particularly when there is a good chance the new man will be in the stands. Players naturally raise their game as they want to impress. On Tuesday there were even rumours Steve Evans – the man set to replace McCann – was in the home dressing room at half-time.
In such a scenario the defeat was not all that surprising but it does mean the Saddlers are still looking over their shoulders, just five points above the drop zone.
Neither is their cause helped by the news Joe Edwards will miss the rest of the season due to a knee ligament injury.
It is devastating news for both the club and player. People I speak to always rave about Edwards’ influence in the Saddlers’ dressing room. He is a real leader on and off the pitch and has scored some important goals this season.
Erhun Oztumer rightly takes the plaudits for his performances but then the flair players always do. Back when I played, Kyle Lightbourne used to get the headlines because he stuck the ball in the net. I always thought Scotty Houghton deserved more credit, as he was the man delivering the crosses.
If Oztumer is the first name on the Walsall teamsheet, then Edwards was surely the second. Now the Saddlers find themselves having to go forward without him.
Assessing the remaining fixtures, the home games are going to be huge.
Walsall face away games the next two Saturdays at Southend, who are in superb form under Chris Powell, and then title-chasing Shrewsbury.
Winning next Tuesday’s game at home to Rochdale may be crucial to ensuring they maintain the current cushion over the bottom four.
Bury, AFC Wimbledon and Northampton all have to visit the Banks’s before the end of the season, so the importance of being strong on your own turf is there for all to see.
At this stage of the campaign it is all about taking care of business in front of your own fans, while pick-pocketing what points you can on the road.
I’m still confident the Saddlers will be able to keep their heads above water. But there are certainly some big games ahead.