Saddlers Social: Walsall fans have their say

Ian Newbold

Wow what a performance. Each and every one of those lads were superb. On their game, anticipating the play, first to the ball every time. Picking out their man, the right one, a 100% pass completion accuracy. Hope they all went home on Saturday with their heads held high.

Anyway, where did we get those ball boys from?

Joking aside, those pitch side helpers were fantastic, notably better than others we’ve had. One of them got the biggest cheer of the first half for a very good catch. Yes, it was that dull. Sadly, for us, I think the next best performers on Saturday were the Stevenage defenders. They all played like their next of kins were being ransomed for a clean sheet against the Saddlers.

Not sure even Liam Neeson could make a decent film out of that plot.

We weren’t bad. Much better in the second half after Clarke’s very positive changes in fact, but just couldn’t find a way through an incredible well drilled Burger King motif adorned defence.

A real shame, as we could have put some good points distance between us and that sole relegation spot. Still, a week or so unbeaten, on to a punt against Oxford in the cup.

Rob Harvey

What a difference 11 days can make! Four games, two cup wins taking us through to the next round of each respective competition, and four points out of six in the league. I would have snapped your hand off for those results after the Darlington FA Cup game we had to endure at home.

Granted, the performances haven’t been exceptional to watch over this period but we are on a little bit of an unbeaten run and personally I’ll take results over performances, especially given the situation we are finding ourselves in. Every point counts and every unbeaten game counts, the free-flowing football can wait if it means we are getting ourselves away from that dreaded 24th place.

What I like most from the last run of games is that Darrell Clarke seems to have stumbled upon a formation he likes and, for the most part, a settled team he likes. I think we have looked a lot stronger defensively recently, and we have looked a bit better going forward (Lavery is a big reason for this). Hopefully we can now continue to push on and not have the inconsistency we have had up to now.

Looking forward, the next few weeks could be crucial for us as to where our realistic expectation should be located for the remainder of the season. String a few wins together and we could look upwards, string a few losses or draws and we are looking at a bottom half finish at best I feel.

Whatever happens, I trust in Darrell Clarke to get it right eventually. This season was always going to be one of mass change and adaptation, and so long as we are relatively safe I believe that Clarke and his backroom team deserve the opportunity to build something here. It might not be pretty at times, but we’ll get there.

UTS!

Nick Etheridge

A bit of a funny week that. Although we struggled to get going in the first half against Darlington, Darrell Clarke was positive and introduced Alfie Bates at half time and from we really controlled things, grabbed a goal and then kept the opposition at arms length. Despite the performance not being great, it was a very professional job.

Fast forward to Saturday and most of us were anticipating another win and a valuable three points. Again in the first half we struggled to get going, but the manager was brave in his substitutions, again changing things up at half time, and again seeing a positive reaction. This is something that we've been crying out for for years, perhaps even during the Dean Smith reign where we've been reactive to changes made during a game rather than taking the initiative ourselves.

In the end, Saturday was game that we should have won, and on paper it's disappointing that we didn't beat a side struggling more than ourselves. I think it highlights how similar most teams are in this division as I've yet to really see a side and think 'they're going up this year'. The main difference seems to be consistency and that's also something that we're improving on.

Team selection has been more consistent and partnerships now seem to be developing all over the pitch. Along with this, Danny Guthrie is the key to us pushing up the table, there's no doubt about his quality, we just need to try and keep him fit. How you do that is a different question all together. If only we had a physio like Jon Whitney on the payroll! Now that's something I didn't think I'd say again!

Stuart Cox

Disappointed. That was very much two points dropped against a team who were bottom of the league at the start of play.

A poor first half from us but much brighter in the second half and, had it not been for their keeper, we would have won comfortably. Guthrie and Bates in the middle were a superb pairing – really hope Guthrie can stay fit. Lavery and Gordon looked as though they can form a partnership and Adebayo looked a little better than in previous games.

I must also mention Scarr who, after some criticism of late, had one of his best games for a while.

Off the pitch, I tried to order a few items of clothing from the club shop this weekend – all out of stock. When I phoned up this morning, I was told that ‘when we order from Errea, there is a 6-7 week wait for the stock to arrive’. When I asked why the stock had not been replenished 4 or 5 weeks ago in preparation for Christmas I was told that ‘we had some stock then so we didn’t order any more'.

It’s the same every year – unless you buy in August or September, you have little chance of getting it. It’s an absolute joke, another example of how our club continues to fail ‘off the pitch’. Sort it out please WFC!

Jon Taylor

No doubt about it we should have won on Saturday, personally I think Stevenage edged us in the first half and at times I wondered how they are bottom of League Two. The game changed at half time with Guthrie being the difference. When he came on the game changed, our tempo picked up and we started moving the ball around positively. The partnership between Gordon and Lavery seems to be building each week and Holden is improving with more game time.

Thought it was a great touch by the club rewarding the Saddlers fans who travelled to Darlington, something we would never have seen under the old ownership. The club is making great strides off the pitch and it’s fantastic having a chairman willing to engage with the fans. Let’s get the product on the pitch right and we won’t have too much to moan about!

Chris Saunders

The last few games have seen a turn round in performance, whilst not pretty or blowing teams away it has firmly stopped the rot that had set in on the losing streak. What I find most positive is that when Keates' defence started leaking goals and games were being lost we never looked like regaining confidence, Saturday showed me Clarke has done the opposite. There were last ditch tackles and blocks on the line, even though we may not be playing free-flowing football, we are grinding to get results.

The promise shown in Gordon and Lavery's partnership, youngsters like Bates and Cockerill-Mollett growing every week and a spine starting to form down the middle of the park. I think the clouds are starting to part and some gloom lifting.

Factor in this defensive resilience and the promise shown, I personally feel tweaking in January is the best option rather than wholesale changes. If we can see this season out in mid table and build with the consistency of the spine and add in a bit of quality next season could really see us push on to rebuild back to League One.

Robert Dearn

Four games in 11 days is difficult. But to come out of it unbeaten, with progression into the second round of the cup, and four points, is something I think they should be proud of.

Saturday's visitors had played double the amount of games in that period, and despite being bottom of the league, they had picked up 6sixpoints in their last five league games, with only one loss in that time.

I feel this run has really shown how much we are lacking in depth in this squad. Clarke admitted he wishes he’d have made more changes, but the team we had out are the only ones playing consistently at the moment. We seem to be lacking the quality in midfield and up top, outside of what we mainly start with.

In January, we must recruit out wide, as we only have McDonald who is an out and out winger. We are also missing some midfield steel. Yes Kinsella and Sinclair put in a lot of tackles, but in terms of a physical presence, we only have Liddle, who hasn’t been performing to the standards we would expect. So one winger, one midfield strong man, and that's before any outgoings.

Jack Talbot

After the Darlington game I was quite optimistic about Saturday’s game as I felt that we didn’t play well but still got the important win into the next round.

However, the first half against Stevenage was another poor performance, we never got started. After half time when DC made the two changes, we looked a different team. It was a game we should have won.

I must say though, the past few weeks, Josh Gordon has looked a completely different player. Is it due to his confidence being helped after his hat trick against Forest Green or Lavery returning from injury to form a partnership up front? I believe it’s a bit of both.

Now onto our 2nd round FA Cup game against Oxford United at home on Saturday. I believe this is another important game to keep this little unbeaten run going and to grow the confidence of our players. Also a bit more prize money in the pot would be appreciated too.

Let’s win on Saturday and get a big away day in the next round to look forward to!

James Kenealey

Well we laboured through the Darlington replay in the end didn’t we?

Hardly convincing but it was job done and it really is a sobering sign of the times that we go into the second round at home to Oxford United as significant underdogs. When was the last time you could say that?

Last Saturday was a terrible advert for the division, particularly the first half which was ‘Oldham away’ levels across the board at times. It’s a shame we couldn’t nick it with that peach of a free kick at the death but there were a few standouts (Gordon again) and it’s another limp forwards towards January… a month which is really crucial. The continued fitness of the likes of Lavery and Guthrie is important, too.

On the off chance anyone senior from the club is reading this - really excellent work giving free tickets to those hardy souls who ventured to Darlington on a Tuesday night. But I also believe you have another issue to resolve that’s dragging on concerning the donation by a long-time supporter of a flag that flew at Fellows Park for many years. I’m sure you’ll sort it out, because the ticket gesture hints that unlike the previous regime, you understand that it’s things like this which are important to people. Right?

Just time for my obligatory weekly mention of the off-pitch situation. Queues, food out of stock, slow service etc etc. Going to keep plugging away gently until we see some improvements.