Walsall went down to Yeovil on Saturday.

UTS regular sadders was at the game, with less then 3000 other fans. He had the following to say about our memorable performance:

Worst performance i’ve ever seen as a Walsall fan. Not one positive. Clueless, pathetic, dismal, dreadful, awful, passionless. DIRE! I blame the players as much as i do Hutchings and i blame Bonser more than any of them. Richards, Brain and Macken were decent. Smith is a poor mans Ian Roper on this seasons displays and Nicholls either needs to be played upfront or given a confidence injection, terrible. Reid was anonymous and my gosh, anyone that moaned at Rhys Weston for his constant hoofing, take a look at the defensive displays of Lescott, cant defend never mind hoof!

Pathetic. Abject.

We’re going down

A Glovers fan had this to say: pity

Hutchings must face up to some hard facts. He’s not achieving anything like respectability, he’s not winning any fans over, and he’s not getting the results on the pitch.

Bonser must face up to some hard facts. Crowds are going backwards, the policy of hiring cheap isn’t working, and the PR is all coming from the fans, who are giving up in droves.

It’s difficult to think of anything to add to that, other than to say that the slow death of a beautiful friend is a terrible thing to experience first hand, and observing Walsall’s progress this season is close to that. Emotive? Yes. Over the top? No. This is something of concern to all Walsall fans, whether they spend every game watching the Saddlers or turn up once every few years.

Bottom of the league after what many considered a fixture we had every chance of winning. Bottom of the table after winning only once at home in the league. Propping up the rest after taking just one point from the last 24. This is beyond relegation form, it’s become an embarrassment. Where’s the incentive for a fan to tell his or her mates to come along when they know what’s in store? Where’s the relish in telling a stayaway they missed a treat when the treat is a turd with a smear of rancid icing on top?

What’s worst for me is that the club appear not to see this. Take this quote from Hutchings:

To say it was frustrating would be an understatement. Things are not going our way at the moment and we are being punished for every slight mistake

Chris, you’re right – frustrating is an understatement. I’d say horrifying, terrifying, infuriating, abject and utterly inept before even thinking of saying ‘frustrating’. Chris, you’re right – things aren’t going our way at the moment, and we’re being punished for every slight mistake, but to use a hackneyed old phrase; Chris, you make your own luck. Looks to me like the ‘slight mistake’ that’s resulting in us losing five games for every one we’ve won so far this season is the one Bonser makes every Monday by not sacking you.

A performance barely worthy of the name ‘football’ saw Walsall slump to a dismal 0-1 defeat at home to previously lowly Yeovil. The game never got going for the Saddlers, or the pitiful 2,929 hardy souls who turned out tonight.

The club official website’s headline “Snow joke as Saddlers slip” was an amusing diversion for a moment, until one realises the importance of this atrocious result. While the season was never going anywhere even before the match, it appears that the players and management have no concept of playing for pride, no concept of entertainment, no concept of tactics and no concept of winning a game at home.

This clueless approach leads one to wonder at the victories we have achieved in this campaign – have we actually put any tactical plan into action, or are these just the result of blind chance in the league of averageness?

One certain fact: Crowds of under 3,000 will become the norm down Bescot Crescent if things do not change. That prospect should fill the fans, the club and the owner with dread.

wednesburysaddler summed up the game with this masterful post on the match thread:

gutless spineless rubbish crud waste of time bunch of puddings with the worst tactician of a manager ive ever seen

My “Proud To Be A Saddler” coffee mug will remain at the back of the cupboard until such time as I feel I agree with the sentiment it expresses. I’m ashamed.