Saddlers Social: Walsall fans have their say

Nick Etheridge

Another game, another.......you know. All jokes aside though we are now five games without a win and heading into a tough run of fixtures that could easily see us cut adrift of the chasing play-off pack. Saturday was a game that we could and should have won, and failing to do so leaves us with no maths in for error if we want to be serious play-off contenders

My main worry at the moment is that the squad look tired, which is understandable given the amount of games we have played in a short space of time. It’s no different to any other team though. We finished strongly against Mansfield, but the majority of games this season have seen our backs to the wall in the closing stages. Injuries are now starting to pile up and it’s been obvious that we miss Josh Gordon and his versatility and fluidity across the front line. With Danny Guthrie going off with a knock in the second half, the squad looks a little stretched and with no winning formula forthcoming at the moment, you do wonder if we’ll be looking over our shoulders rather than towards the play-off spots in a few weeks.

Chris Saunders

Too many draws really could hamper our season. I know we are only 10 games in but already the league leaders sit on nearly double our points tally. We really need to find a spark to put games to bed or cut out silly mistakes which are leading to us conceding poor goals, ideally we should do both. It’s easier said than done though.

I feel like we have a good squad and we can compete with the talent we have. Currently though performances feel flat whenever we get near the opposition box, maybe the fans missing is a big part of that and we really do drive a team for that last few percent to make a difference.

I hope Tuesday finally brings that three points we desperately need to kick start our season and push on from there. On a side note I can’t really get excited about the FA Cup first round, knowing fans may not return for some time yet makes it hard, at least for me, to get excited for any potential big draw should we go on a bit of a cup run.

Dan Price

Another draw is another point however no win in five is something we need to turn around if we want to make a serious attempt at getting out of this league this year.

Great to see Elijah Adebayo on the score sheet again, look like he is taking his opportunity in Josh Gordon’s absence and showing us what he is capable off. I thought Cameron Norman played well when he came on and also think Emmanuel Osadebe given a consistent run in the team could become a vital player for us. Let’s keep the faith, UTS.

James Kenealey

Isn’t it funny how ‘one of the longest unbeaten runs in Europe’ turns into ‘2 wins in 10’ so quickly?

Going into the Mansfield game, I did think it was going to be the perfect opportunity to really have a go at a team who haven’t won a game yet this season and hopefully turn these endless draws into a win.

It was not to be again though, even though it probably should have been. This time our ‘mistake of the day’ was having three clear attempts to clear the ball but failing to do so and allowing a deflected shot find the feet of an experienced striker.

I’ve been impressed with Elijah Adebayo this season, who I think has come on leaps and bounds since his earliest games for us. His hold up play is good and his scoring record already this season is encouraging. Without him having found this form and the goals that have resulted from it we’d be in a much more uncomfortable position in the table. Still curious to see some comments on social media describing him as lazy.

He looks the option of choice if we’re going one up top, but we looked considerably more threatening on Saturday in the closing stages of the game once Caolan Lavery was introduced. I definitely think we miss Josh Gordon at the moment.

A couple of cup games coming up after we entertain Crawley. And if we don’t add a ‘W’ to our form when we play Southend, who look absolutely hopeless, then I might start to get a bit twitchy.

Robert Dearn

Well, it has not been the week we were after. Cambridge was always going to be difficult, but Mansfield was an opportunity missed. They were beatable, and it's a game that I felt would have gotten us back on track.

We go back to the big issue from last season, we need to beat the teams at the lower end of the table. These are points that are more than there for the taking, but yet again, a mistake led to a goal. We aren't being carved open, or conceding goals from the opposition outplaying us. They are errors, and I think nerves are setting in to make them.

This is my problem with the side at the moment, in a week where we conceded three goals, all three were errors. Two penalties, and one poor clearance aren't goals where the other team are breaking us down. We look tight defensively, but we look like we will always make a mistake, and if these continue, then Darrell Clarke and Leigh Pomlett will be looking at another season in League Two.

Ian Newbold

What a rotten week.

Completely outdone by Cambridge at home, despite them letting us have the ball a lot. And just a point against a winless, managerless, Mansfield Town. Not. Good. Enough.

We can blame October (again), we can blame the weather, or perhaps the soulless empty stadia having an impact. But if this keeps up, sooner rather than later, Darrell Clarke is going to be taking the brunt.

I’m grateful that we have a football club clearly trying very hard, from top to bottom, but I’m a little fed up with just two wins in ten league games.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and overall survival as a club, whatever its stature has to be the priority, however we haven’t been a perennial fourth division also ran for a very long time. And that’s what we are right now.

The tide will turn, just how, when, or who by, is anyone’s guess.

Rob Harvey

Another frustrating week with one point from two games, again mainly in part down to our own avoidable defensive errors. It is becoming a bit concerning just how often we are gifting opportunities to our opponents and we need to rectify it now before it causes more damage than it already is doing.

10 games in, we've only lost one game which in itself is impressive but on the flip side to that we have only won two of the games as well. I think our performance Saturday deserved more than a point and there were some promising signs shown so hopefully this can continue moving forward but we have another tough test on Tuesday against a decent Crawley side which hopefully we can prevail in and come away with three points and start to get a winning mentality back in the squad.

Going back to the 10 games in thing, usually the first 10 games of a season can give you an indication as to how your season is going to go but with all the draws you can't really tell where we are heading as we won't draw games like we have been all season. We could end up turning them in to wins, or we could end up on the end of a few more losses and potentially looking over our shoulders a little bit like we were at points last season. Me personally, I think that we can sneak a few more wins and our aim for the season should be the play-offs now. I think the start we've had has put paid to even thinking we could get top three, but top seven could be more realistic.

Looking forward to Tuesday, and then an FA Cup Game on Saturday against Darrell Clarke's old team Bristol Rovers – surely he'll want to put one over on them? Maybe we can then go on a bit of a cup run......

Keep supporting the lads and keep buying those iFollow passes, it all helps our club out. UTS!