After the heroics against the Wendies, a return to the apparent base form that’s plagued Walsall this season.

UTS regular Sadsfan was at the game and sums it up as follows:

Absolutely garbage today, and for me it was down to the manager. Far too long this season I have watched the back four pump long balls to the front men completely bypassing the midfield. Now, this is not just the fault of the defence as the midfield has all the movement of a photograph. Peterlin can play the short pass well but doesn’t find space to receive the ball off the back four and Chambers may as well not play as he always makes sure he is being marked so he does not have to have the ball. This is Smiths fault as he should have addressed this by now and made sure the team were playing the ball through the midfield using the Patterson as a creative outlet. To be over 20 games into the season and playing a style of football that is clearly not working leaves the blame at the door of the manager, its not Bonser that will make me a stayaway next season, but it will be the awful football played under Smith.

Fellow regular tinned also saw the game in a similar manner:

I thought for spells in the first half we passed it well and looked like a half decent side. Second half and another Smith master tactician talk and we’re mentally still in the dressing rooms. As soon as Macken was taken off we lost all ability to hold the ball up top.

It’s okay saying 4 points out of 6 was a good haul (it was) but after getting 3 on Monday we should be disappointed not to get all 6.

UTSer Welsh Saddler saw the following:

All in all, a disappointing game. Rochdale were obviously trying to impress their caretaker-manager by showing their ability to play proper football, and I thought they always looked the more likely side to score. We CAN play like that, but too often we CHOOSE not to. That’s down to Dean Smith.

Does Deano believe in his team?

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By all accounts the faithful were served up a dish of dross at the pre-Christmas feast for famine night at Bescot. On the positive side, we kept another clean sheet in open play, but that’s the only positive. A shameful result, the bad taste of which will linger for a long time.

Asps was at the match and saw it like this:

An abject disgrace of a performance. Smith needs to take a long look at himself and the players he’s signed.

In addition to all said by other posters above, it was a terrible use of subs again tonight. All ours used by 70 minutes, when all could see extra time was coming.

Nichols should never wear the shirt again. How anyone can try to bend a penalty around an imaginary wall is beyond me. He can retire and clean cars at the end of this season.

Freezing cold night & no warm drinks after 60 minutes as shop shut – ffs only at Walsall.

You can comment on the match thread here and from there you can navigate to All About Walsall and have your say about the rest of the season, Smith and whatever else tickles your fancy, or makes your butt itch.

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Walsall went down 4-2 at home to a more spirited Bury side.

First, a quick poll:

Are we going down this season?

• Yes, we're doomed (50%, 150 Votes)
• No, we'll survive (27%, 82 Votes)
• Yes, unless we change the manager (23%, 67 Votes)

Total Voters: 299

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WFC_Rob, a messageboard regular, was at the match, and sums up our dismal day as follows:

If Smith doesn’t stick to the statement he made a couple of months ago and ship those players out who just aren’t good enough, we might as well give up now.

Yesterday’s game was strange in that nobody had an absolute mare, which suggests to me that the lot of them just lack the quality needed at this level. In the second half, Bury found a gear which was about four gears higher than the one we were playing at – man for man, they looked leagues above us.

Things just aren’t working for Dean Smith and he needs to see that no amount of drills on the training ground will turn this group of players into anything other than bottom six strugglers.

I could list four players who started yesterday’s game for us, yet probably wouldn’t get into any other league one side.

Beevers is solid enough, but does he really have the quality on the ball to help us keep the ball?
Manny Smith – same as Lee Beevers. Great as long as the opposition use the same long ball tactics as us, but that rarely happens.
Gnakpa – really wanted him to prove me wrong, but he gives us nothing other than someone to aim goal kicks at. Laziness like his is unforgivable.
Nicholls – One month on from what many considered to be his best game for the club and we’re back to where we were before. No presence, no threat.

The other players are ok, but don’t have quality in such abundance that they can carry a handful of their team-mates. For all the hype about Paterson, he wastes more of the ball than he uses wisely. That will only improve with time in the side, but is he really likely to develop into the player he should in this team, under this manager?

The disappointment yesterday wasn’t that we lost – it was that we were absolutely battered in every single area of the pitch by a side who are mid-table at best.

So, some things to ponder for Smith and the gang as Walsall get comfy in the League One departure lounge.

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From the blogosphere, it looks like some information has been leaked, then covered up, surrounding the future of Dean Smith, currently our manager to the end of the season.

Looks like BRMB’s ‘thegoalzone’ jumped the gun, tweeting about a two year contract for Deano, which was picked up very quickly and retweeted by Darren Byfield. ‘thegoalzone’ have now taken down their original message, but too late.

Now Late Kick Off are saying that a Midland club have a press conference tomorrow.

If this news has a kernel of truth, it would be rude to offer it without a poll:

Two years for Smith is...

• a good thing (77%, 226 Votes)
• too early to tell (20%, 60 Votes)
• a bad thing (3%, 9 Votes)

Total Voters: 295

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An away defeat that didn’t feel so bad? Paradox? No, a measure of the way we’ve become a club transformed since Hutchings was given the heave-ho just in time to join his old mate Jewell. Fans have become pragmatic instead of suicidal, and the effort is plain for all to see.

UTS regular Stu made a last-minute decision to go to Colchester. Albatross. He made these comments on the message board, and if you click the following link you too can have your say, once you log in or register

Well, back home now having made a spur of the moment decision to go about 12.30…

A little disappointing in the sense that we offered nothing going forward really. One of those occasions when we could have played for 90 weeks and not scored, let alone 90 minutes. Lots of nice approach play at times, but we had no idea how to then create a chance… It was good positions down the flank and poor balls in or nobody to aim for, or it was just given away in the middle of the park.

This is going to sound strange, we didn’t play too badly, but to be honest, we could have lost 5 or 6 quite easily. Walker made 3 good saves, they missed a sitter from 6 yards after 2 minutes, Lancashire flicked a header onto the inside of his own post and twice they went around Walker only to see Butler and then Gill clear off the line. They seemed to cruise around in 3rd gear for 90 minutes, yet still had the skill, guile and movement to carve us open at times.

For me, the balance of the team was wrong again. Taundry might run around, he might be a little terrier but he has no output or quality to his play, but putting him on the right wing is just soft as he continually comes inside. I lost count of the number of times Westlake had the ball with no option in front of him but to hoik it 20/30 yards down the flank or come back inside. On a big pitch like that, it was crying out for two traditional wingers, I was hoping to see Grigg or Price come on for Taundry and move Nicholls to the right flank for some pace.

The ref was poor, but we can’t blame him for the result, as said, they could have had 5, 6 or 7 today. The first goal was contenious in that Butler was claiming a goal kick, but the Ref gave a corner. He didn’t seem to protest too much though. Corner came in, fell loose, Macken got half a clearance on it but nobody picked up their bloke on the edge of the box who rifled it in. I can’t comment on the penalty and I don’t think any Walsall fan can really, it was 70/80 yards away from us on the opposite side, however we can comment on the fact that the entire Walsall team were absolutely livid with the Linesman for giving it. For me, the players reaction was more than enough to say it must have been a poor decision and I base my decision on that.

Started out 4-4-2, appeared to go 4-3-1-2 in the 2nd half with Gray taking up a very central role behind the front two. I think that was a mistake personally, as we became really congested and no real outlet on either flank to get around the back, and we didn’t have the pace or creativity to carve them open through the middle.

Walker – Super game, made 3/4 quality blokes from angled 1v1s and a superb 2nd half save from a pull back.
Westlake – Decent game, looked solid, got caught out a couple of times but bearing in mind he had nobody in front of him at times, its not surprising.
Lescott – Okay, not great, not awful.
Lancashire – Okay, not great, not awful
Butler – MOTM, the bloke is a brick wall. Sensational goal line clearance in the 2nd half, this bloke should be signed up now and be captaining this team next season.
Taundry – Poor, sorry. He might be a Walsall lad, he might run a lot and chase and harry, but there is no quality or output in his play. Sort of reminds me of a young Dean Keates, headless chicken at times, but without Keates’ quality.
Richards – Used the ball nicely, but faded as the match went on.
Gill – Shame that we’re losing him, lots of energy although, gets around the pitch, uses the ball well. Fantastic goal line clearance in the 2nd half when he clattered into the post in the process
Gray – Good first half I though, hugged the touchline, used the ball well, tried to get to the flank but nothing really to aim for. Didn’t do much in a central position in the 2nd half
Macken – This bloke gets so much stick, but he holds a ball up well. Just as he did on Tuesday, if he doesn’t hold it up, our forward play doesn’t exist. Struggled more today, was manhandled by their centre half for 90 minutes, but again, had very little support and Nicholls couldn’t read what Macken wanted.
Nicholls – Pretty anonymous I’m afraid. Doesn’t seem to read balls or runs.

Subs:
Marshall – Anonymous
Grigg – Tried, but little success and little impact
Price – lol, the only footballer I’ve seen who seems to go backwards when he runs, the lack of pace is shocking, like Grigg, tried but little success and even less impact.

Sometimes you just have to put your hands up and admit you were beaten by a better side, today was one of those days. Could have been a lot worse, could have been 5, 6 or 7 which would have crushed morale. So, just chalk this one off and move on to the next episode of the Great Escape

PS: Chicken Balti pie was bloody awfull, worst I’ve ever tasted

Thanks, Stu. Anyone reading this far will have noticed your Bescot plug in the last line.

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