Not sure we will ever see a combo as good as Aranalde / Matias.
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If only those 2 would have had an extra yard of pace . Then again if they did I don’t suppose they would have been playing for us . Very good league 1 players though.
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I think Aranalde was very under appreciated at the time.
We could only dream of signing blokes who’ve played for Sevilla now. Absolute fun times for foreigners in the English game that era.
Matias went from Real Madrid to Walsall via Macclesfield. I miss the good old days 
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Yes your right about aranalde he did seem to get a lot of stick to fair.
I used to love shouting “Ariba Ariba Andele” as he ran down the line 
and he always acknowledeged me with a smile 
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Went to Maine rd when there then manager Royle said we played them off the park and it was daylight robbery that they got away with a 1-1 draw Brightwell was awesome that day against his old club The only reason we didn’t win I think was down to Ricketts missing two one on ones
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Yes he got a lot of stick but not from me…he was superb player. At one match(I forget which) a scout from another Club sat next to me and said if you could stop Aranalde you could stop Walsall! when you think about it he was right …that link up with Matias was one of the keys to our success around that time.
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I remember that game too…Brightwell was very good for a spell around that time.
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I remember nearly getting decked by some manc bird that looked like giant haystacks sister after telling her to go fuck herself
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…did she manage it ?
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She managed to get about a foot away from knocking my block off after getting through the police line so she probably had some finger love when she got home
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Did you ever manage to watch a game without having a bust up with anyone? 
most of us remember games by what happened on the pitch not off it 
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To be honest no, the only matches i remember for just the football are in the late 90’s onwards, we never went for the football in the 80’s, we had one eye on the pitch and the other taunting the opposition 
Was trying to remember where they actually came from…can vaguely recall Pedro Matias in that Macclesfield team that defied the odds for a few years with one of the 100 Sodje Brothers at the back. It was said they picked him up from Real Madrid although I imagine he was just a youth teamer there.
Think Aranalde was picked up by Wigan when they were signing Spanish players like Roberto Martinez.
I do miss the random foreign signings, Dean Smith picked up a few ones in his early days like Ledesma and Gbarasin who played their parts in the great escape, seems to be a no go area now after Makris.
Anyway the Stoke game is certainly one I wish I could’ve attended, highlights are great with Peter Drury commentary.
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Just checked Matias played for Real Madrid C and B so pretty good pedigree.
No link with Wigan but Aranalde was first choice with Sevilla in 96-97 in La Liga. Signed three years later.
That’s something that does feel like a different universe nowadays. Taylor using his dodgy contacts book to secure decent european players like those and Peron and Boli.
Now many clubs do it and we’re stucky with star signings like Liddle and Gaffney.
Edit: I really should read all the posts in a thread before I post sometimes. Feels like I’ve just plagarized @latviancheese work!
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And to to think Taylor was mocked. He was ahead of his time in reality.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. There was a lot of crap but it was worth it for the gems.
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Viva Walter Otta.
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Best games: Beating Albion at home, Wolves away 2-1 (Barras), Oldham 3-1 for promotion and the play-off final.
Worst games: I could pick one of those games that was heartbreaking. Getting relegated at Ipswich, losing to Millwall in the semis of the Auto Windscreen but both of these had good walsall teams competing. Same with Wembley although we didn’t compete, at least we were there. Worst games I’ve seen are both terrible draws against Gillingham. 1-1 at home in 2002 I think, absolutely terrible match where both goals were scrambled in off the arse stuff. 0-0 away to them 2 years ago was also awful. I’ve seen a lot worse though in games not involving Walsall! Watched Aberdeen v Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup 10 years ago. 0-0 in normal and extra time, then a penalty shootout in which most were missed. Recently went to watch Oxford United v Shrewsbury, 0-0 and nothing happened in the full 90 minutes.
Not saying it’s my best game ever but I loved that 3-3 with Man City . As for worst game ever there have been so many to pick just one out
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Expected yours to read
Best game. Everywhere it went off
Worst game. Everywhere it didn’t Lol
Great to see you in railway on sat pal, Some good old fellows park lads in there on sat mate, and a lot of them starting to come back to the games,
Was thinking of doing a Wigan reunion, Do you think they will hire us another double decker bus lol
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