Back to earth with a bump in London today when what looked like a point gained unfortunately disappeared with a late Orient winner. Bangsection was at the game and sent these thoughts over the message board:

One of those games. Our two best chances coincided with two very good saves (and arguably Westcarr shooting straight at the keeper with the goal gaping) their two best chances coincided with pretty poor defending and a first goal with an offside in the build up that wasn’t given.

That said, we created little second half and although it is almost a contractual obligation when attending matches to be baffled by Smith’s substitutions I have to confess to being baffled by Smith’s substitutions. Bowerman and Cuvelier were entirely ineffective and I’m genuinely not sure which position Cuvelier was supposed to be playing in.

To be fair, only one team was interested in playing football today and it wor Orient. Whoever said this is a poor League One is spot on. What was that, their eighth win in nine games? And they’re bang average on that performance.

Biggest positive today was Mantom’s performance – MOTM and a ‘worldy’ as the appalling Merson would say. Biggest negative was Downing. Kid had a bit of a stinker I’m afraid.

Will try to do player ratings after I finish the East 17 heritage tour. Just off to Brian Harvey’s Mum’s house.

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The biggest threat to the Saddlers continuing their wonderful festive period may not come from Leyton Orient tomorrow, but from the terrible weather “dahn sarth”. Mind you, as anything happens in London is immediately treated as ten times worse (or better) than if it happened anywhere else by the somewhat southern south centric media, it is dificult to know if the Cockernies are getting anything more than what the average Welshman would call a light shower. Orient’s last home game, to be fair, was called off on Boxing Day, however, and there will be an 8 am pitch inspection.

Dean Smith, should the game go ahead, will be faced with the old dilemma of whether to change a winning team. Cuvelier may be ready for a start, physically, but he may decide to keep the same starting eleven that did so well at the Plastics on Boxing Day and leave the talented Belgian on the bench until needed. Featherstone also faces a fitness test, but I would have thought that he would be no more than a sub, even if he passes the test, as it’s not worth risking another injury. Holden should also be warming the bench as Downing improves and the rest tend to pick themselves.

Orient have benefited from their enforced rest, as strikers Lisbie and Symes should start. Symes was certainly struggling to play against Swindon before that game was finally called off thanks to a waterlogged pitch.

Predictions?

Difficult one, this. Orient had been on a good run during November and early December, before crashing down to earth with a 1 – 3 home defeat by Scunthorpe. Since then, they haven’t played, with two games called off for waterlogged pitches. It may depend on which Orient turn up!

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[update - admin wrote his post while I was waiting for a report. Never mind! Two is better than none, and it helps to rub it in just a bit...]

What a difference half a week makes. After exactly three months waiting for a three point match, we get two games, two smashing wins, and all of a sudden things look a lot better than they did.

To win away at Suicide City was the stuff of dreams, at least according to betfair and their mates, who had us up as high as 9/1 against, but the Saddlers didn’t stick to the script. In the end Franchise gave us a very welcome late present by rolling over at home and conceding four goals in one game where they’d previously conceded only five in the league all season. It’s always nice to be able to pass on the stuffing at Christmas, especially to the plastic club with no history.

New(ish) UTS regular Tracker34 was at the match, and after several celebratory ales has come up with something resembling a report – thanks mate!

4 shots on target – 4 goals!!

Certainly unexpected but well deserved – keep it going to Orient!

McCarey 6: Felt he could have done better with the second goal and wasn’t too commanding of his area today, may have been down to the wet and breezey conditions, but still not convinced he is anything better than Grof.

Purkiss 7: When Taundry was in I think we all knew that Purkiss was a superior player however I’d forgotten just how much better. Willing to get forward, able to catch defenders trying to run past him down the wing. I’ll even forgive the odd HOOF!
Butler 7: As you’d expect, won a few headers, liked a tackle, took a booking for the team…
Downing 7: You don’t really notice him on the pitch, doesn’t get much wrong which for a young defender in the early matches of his career is ok with me!
Taylor 8: Few strong tackles, few good bursts forward and some great defensive work especially considering that he had little help from Paterson infront of him.

Mantom 6: Good running performance but didn’t really do too much. A bit hesitant in closing players down in first half but improved
Chambers 8: Another great performance. I wasn’t the biggest fan of his return to the first team but has certainly justified it these last two games. Got stuck in.
Patterson 6: Don’t get me wrong it was a great finish for the goal and don’t mind a few misplaced/overhit passes on a day like this but he was unfortunately the worst in a Walsall shirt today. Certainly needs to harden up and also find a way of getting some defensive nous.
Westcarr 7: Looks like he’s starting to get a good link with Brandy going. Best I’ve seen him play for us.

Brandy 9: He seems to terrify teams, also seems to win 90% of our free kicks. Good running all game typified by his burst and trickery at the end of the game to win the free kick leading to Patersons goal. Can do a mean somersault too – worth watching the highlights for!
Grigg 9: Well he’s an international striker isn’t he!! Looked stronger today, looked confident. Didn’t see his second too well but great turn and finish for his first. Keep it up!

Cuvelier 7: Came on, looked classy when he got the ball, will be great to have him for a full 90 mins!!

Just a quick one on MK – I like the place, I like the facilities, I like the set-up, the stewards are friendly, they sell bacon rolls. It’s such a shame they are an odious club of the highest order.

Onward and upward, hopefully. Next up – Leyton Orient away.

Thanks to MK mongs for the six pointer. Can we play you every week?

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You wait 17 games for a win and then get two in a week after the Saddlers stunned the football world today with a superb 4-2 win at high-flying Milton Keynes.

With Saddlers powering back up the M6 as we speak here is an early report courtesy of ClubCall before more detail floods in on the message board:

Will Grigg scored twice as Walsall secured an npower League One double over high-flying MK Dons with a 4-2 win. Grigg’s brace plus goals from Febian Brandy and Jamie Paterson handed the Saddlers a second successive win, while Ryan Lowe and Dean Bowditch were both on target for the below-par Dons.
Lowe put the Dons ahead after only six minutes when he stole in unmarked to head home Adam Chicksen’s cross for his fourth goal in as many games.
But Walsall scored two goals in 10 minutes to turn the match on its head, first when Brandy bundled his way through to lash the ball into the top corner and then when Grigg skinned Mathias Doumbe to curl the ball past David Martin.
Dons forward Bowditch made it 2-2 when he neatly slotted in Lowe’s lay-off, but Grigg restored Walsall’s lead two minutes before the break, tapping in Craig Westcarr’s low cross from close range.
The Dons struck the woodwork twice after the break as substitute Patrick Bamford had a shot deflected against the post and Antony Kay headed against an upright,
But after Grigg had also been denied a hat-trick by the woodwork as his header hit the crossbar, Paterson made it 4-2 in the 90th minute when his curling shot was deflected past Martin.

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Christmas cheer for all Saddlers with the first win for 17 games on Saturday in a deserved 1-0 victory over Colchester. Pumajaguar was there and posted this on the message board:

A deserved win against what was admittedly very poor opposition. They managed to hit the bar twice, but we were well on top for most of the game and this was a good win against a team who are likely to be one of our rivals in the relegation dogfight.

Here’s how I saw it:

Mccarey: Nothing to do all game, but dealt with a horror backpass from Purkiss which he had to take on his chest very well
Butler: Kept Colchester quitet, easier task once Jabo went off
Purkiss: Good going forward, but he is poor when wingers attack him, just got to hope not many teams notice this
Downing: Quietly impressive
Taylor: Solid enough
A Chambers: Had a good busy game in the middle
Mantom: First decent performance since returning this season
Grigg: Can’t fault his effort, but he should have scored twice and just doesn’t have it in him to score many goals at this level in my opinion
Paterson: A better performance than what we’ve seen in recent weeks
Brandy: Excellent, took his goal very well, always positive, gives the opposition something to think about, pace to burn, works hard
Westcarr: Linked up well with Brandy a few times, seems to float about the pitch in all sorts of positions though. Jury still out

Bowerman: Amazingly got on for a whole half an hour, perhaps Smith finally realised he is much more likely to bury a chance than Grigg. Did alright when he had the ball, didn’t seem too bothered about tracking back though
Cuvellier: Barely had a kick, played out of position on the left wing, which is strange decision if you ask me

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL SADDLERS!

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If there was ever a time to get back to winning ways, then this is it. On the end of a 16 game winless run, the team have at least put an end to the losing streak with four draws in the last five, but the habit of throwing away good leads at home (5 times is it now?), coupled with some poor performances and everything else that surrounds the club, means that the gates have now fallen to an appalling 3000. When you consider that, when Hutchings and Mullen were sacked, falling gates were given as one of the reasons, yet Smith has a worse win record than either and gates are lower than ever! In fact, Smith’s win record in worse than Merson’s and it’s only the fact that we have drawn so many more games under him than any of the other three that is keeping us afloat.

On top of all that, we are playing Colchester United. Level with us on points, they have lost the last four games on the bounce and seven in total away from home, so surely we can break our duck? Mind you, Hartlepool have lost eight of the last ten and have drawn the other two and guess where one of those draws was?

Dean Smith should have a fully fit squad to choose from (or very near it). Butler is back from suspension, Purkiss is fit again after injury and Cuvelier will face a late fitness test and also stands a chance of starting. Featherstone is the other doubt, with an ankle injury.

For the Us, Magnus Okuonghae and Marcus Bean are back from their one game suspension served last weekend, but Gavin Massey has one more game to miss before he is back and available for the Christmas period.

Matt Heath is also fit enough to travel after making his long awaited return to action in a midweek Essex Senior Cup triumph over Brentwood, and Brian Wilson is back after illness ruled him out of the game against Bournemouth (although how he finds time to play and play keyboard with the Beach Boys, I don’t know.

Predictions?

I have to go for a home win, considering Colchester’s recent form in the last five games is actually even worse than ours!

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Our recent run of games now looks like the following:
LLLLDLDDLLLDDDLD

16 games without a win. Taking the positive we’ve only lost one in the last five, but that’s stretching the medication a little thinly, really.

Over to UTS regular, Bernie, to do his impression of Statto:

This season Walsall have scored first in 11 of their 22 league matches.

Of those 11 matches they have won 4, drawn 5, and lost 2.

In the table of results after scoring first they are 23rd out of 24.

http://skysports.stats.football365.com/ … scfst.html

If Walsall had won every game in which they took the lead (this has been done by Doncaster and Leyton Orient so far this season) they would have 39 points so far this season.

Clearly the team need to either score more or concede less. Playing the full 90 might seem a good place to start. Three points next match would be better, as long as it represents a real and lasting change instead of papering over the ever-widening cracks. If this run goes on much longer the inevitable conclusion is that our “football DNA” has an extra chromosome.

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2-0 up and cruising then disaster as Yeovil grabbed an equaliser on the stroke of injury time to rob Walsall of a first win in 16 attempts.

Evenflow on the message board seems to have had enough:

- 13 points, we’ve dropped from winning positions so far. 13 points before Christmas.

- 4 times, league and cup, we’ve surrendered 2 goal leads at home, failing to win on each occassion.

- Hammered by a 10 man, bottom 4 side at home, and failed to beat (with apologies to all ‘Poolies) the absolute worst 3rd tier side seen at the Bescot since it opened (with more years here spent in said tier than any other, maybe even all others combined).

- The absolute farce of a goalkeeping situation, where the only senior keeper out of 4 that a) actually belongs to us and b) isn’t too fat to play, is so ridiculously out of form and confidence-shorn that his position is practically untenable… yet we’re only an injury to one of two blokes (Ikeme & De Vries) who are nothing to do with WFC to him being back between the sticks.

- I watched the Mansfield-Lincoln replay on Wednesday. As one of the unfortunate 1200 at the 1st round replay, I was aghast watching the Imps in a neutral setting. Did we really fail to put them away across 2 games plus an extra half hour? Truly embarassing.

Can you imagine a combination of all of the above, and any other club in… ooh, I dunno, the top seven tiers of English football not being seen to take immediate, drastic & affirmative action in some way, shape or form? Yet we almost certainly (and I’ll be delighted if I’m wrong) won’t hear a peep or see a thing from the powers that be at WFC between now & the visit of Colchester, and that’s what causes as much pain as anything else… the fact we’re stuck with this feeling of despair and knowledge that nothing will change before we trundle, in eternal hope and non-existent expectation, through the turnstile once again.

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Now, we are having two new sofas delivered tomorrow, in advance of Christmas, which leaves me with a difficult decision to make. Will it be wait in and help the wife get the room straight following the delivery, or will it be risk watching the Saddlers play (or attempt to play) football?

Dean Smith was happily trying to blame the referee for last week’s defeat at the Ricoh (and, to be fair, the lack of protection that Fabien Brandy received was quite disgusting), but the excuses (and the promises of improvement) are starting to wear very thin. We all know that he can get this squad to play – they proved it during August and September – but he seems powerless to do anything positive about the current slump. We all know that the injury to Florent Cuvelier hasn’t helped either, but he was far from being our most effective player before he got crocked, as teams had worked out the threat and were giving him no space to operate at all. That needed a change of tactics and it is that change which has failed to manifest itself. Mind you, I start to have doubts about anyone who thinks that Richard Taundry is the best right back at the club.

Cuvelier has started training again, but tomorrow’s game against Yeovil may have come a little to early for him to start. Smith does, however, have Ben Purkiss available following his hamstring injury. (Just a clue, Dean, both Purkiss and James Chambers are better right backs than Taundry). To counter that, Andy Butler misses the first of his two games after the sending off at Coventry last week.

Yeovil welcome back Keanu Marsh-Brown after the winger missed the goalless draw against Notts County on Saturday as he served a one-match ban after picking up five yellow cards, but Marsh-Brown is now available for an immediate return to Gary Johnson’s side.
Johnson will be without defender Dale Bennett after the 22-year-old returned to parent club Watford following a frustrating loan spell. Bennett played just 10 minutes for the Glovers in a substitute appearance against Carlisle, after his stint at the Somerset club was plagued by a back injury.
Johnson is able to call on an otherwise fully fit squad.

Predictions?

Not too sure when the two sofas will be delivered, but am betting on around 11.30. As for the football,like the team, I haven’t got a clue at the moment.

Toy Appeal

As Radio WM don’t seem to consider Walsall to be in their area and are ignoring Bescot for their annual Toy Appeal, the Trust will be carrying one out at tomorrow’s game again, on the car park near to the main entrance.

The Trust will once again, thanks to the generosity of Saddlers fans, be providing toys for the Walsall FC players to take to the Childrens Ward of the Manor Hospital on their annual visit, and this year they have included gifts for new born babies for the neo natal unit purchased with Supporters donations from the 2011 Toy collection.

They will also be donating toys to the Walsall Rainbows Childrens Hospice, as we did last year that were gratefully received by the staff and children alike.

Another worthy cause supported this year the is BLACK COUNTRY FOOD BANK, which is based at the Church at Junction 10. The Food bank will distribute toys to local children who may not otherwise get any presents.

The Trust are also happy to receive Non Perishable Food Stuffs to pass on to the food bank. Any tins would be gratefully received and put to good use by them.

There will also be a collection bucket on the table for any unwanted change.

Last season saw a brilliant response from Saddlers fans, so let’s make sure we repeat that again.

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The Saddlers crashed 5-1 at resurgent Coventry yesterday and fans are worried. Philthesaddler took to the message board and said this:

First things first, can I just say what a quality ground the Ricoh Arena is. I dont think there’s a bad seat in the house, the bowl is steep, the access easy and I found the stewards to be decent human beings, which makes a change.On to the football.Once again no Bowerman, strange. Started pretty well, but then again, I think it’s fair to stay Coventry started very slowly, so that’s probably why we looked like we could hold our own for 10 mins. Even during the period when we held our own, we could have conceded 2 or 3, mainly thanks to Richard Taundry giving the ball away endlessly and being unable to catch their winger (Christie?).Their missed chances in the first quarter of an hour were only a sign of things to come, and Smith didnt react by doing what I’d have done – screamed my head off at Richard Taundry.Through a big slice of fortune we took the lead, and this only served to perk Coventry up. Then we stopped playing, and stopped trying to play.

From the moment we scored our first goal to the end of the first half, we didnt keep the ball for more than 3 passes, time and time and time again we would get the ball back then we would give it away, usually within one of 2 touches, which immediately put the defence under pressure. Moan all you like about our defence – and they were poor today – but the midfield really have to take a big slice of the blame. Paterson, Featherstone, Westcarr being the main culprits.The third goal shouldn’t have been allowed due to a push on Taundry, and whilst the protests to the referee probably had some substance, I only wish the players put the same energy and application in to their football as they do in to moaning to the referee. Considering that we could have been 4 or 5 down by that point, you really have to wonder why the players bothered complaining to the ref at all.This is what is really worrying me, losing has become a habit, the players feel “hard done by”. I tweeted to some of the players after the defeat in our opening game this season when they were down on their luck and blaming this that and the other, it’s synonymous with the culture at the club, and Smiths post-match comments go even further to proving this point – why even mention the ref in a post-match interview after you’ve been hammered 5-1? A match that could easily have been 7-1 without complaint. Unless the ref practically heading the ball in for the 5th, you really cant stand there and complain about the ref.So now we are watching the record-equalling worst side in Walsall’s history – that fact alone should see Smith packing his bags, but this is Walsall and we do things differently.

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