Perfectly summed up by geordie saddler. These type of journeymen league 1 defenders are ten to a penny and the clubs inability to secure even one of them speaks volumes. I feel with keates its make or break for him. Hes left being an up and coming manager in the National League to s club destined for a relegation scrap. If he takes us down, there arent many club a relegated Walsall Manager can go to as others have found to their cost. The board need to give him the tools to do the job. End of
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Playing devilās advocate here: if a certain rumour is true (thatās all it is, & weāll likely never know either way), then Keates has spent half the summer chasing a 29 year old centre half from Wrexham, making cash bids. That would suggest that the money has been made available to fill that void.
If the above isnāt true, fair enough.
If Wrexham were determined not to sell, fair enough; BUTā¦ if it is true, then either way, going into the season with a last minute loanee lining up as first choice CB, particularly given the ongoing fiasco of the last 12 months in the same position, would be pretty much inexcusable.
Keates saying that a centre half can slip into a team with ease is quite obviously a load of BS, maybe on a Sunday Morning kickaround but not against professional opposition. The understanding between your centre halves and keeper is probably the most important.
Hard to know what to make of Brewitt and Baka sat on the bench today; certs for next week (and a contract already signed by the former) or a case of āon yer bike toneā?
Is Baka now 4th choice?
It must surely be the case that Brewitt is as good as signed up otherwise it would have been bizarre in the extreme to leave him on the bench the whole game . Anyway, it āgingered ā Devlin a bit !!
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Feed the cook and he will score
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Egert was really poor. Aside from the two penalties, he struggled to win headers against their CF, was slow on the turn and his passing was mediocre.
Not sure why the other CB triallist didnāt get on but would have little confidence if Egert is a starting CB for league one. He needs to be signed as cover and then experienced league one/two CB signed on loan like last year with Wilson and then Fitzwater.
Aside from that they were positives,much more in the second as first half was pretty poor.
Roberts is most commanding Walsall keeper on crosses for probably a decade, Devlin and Leahy were actually o.k today, Dobson was excellent and I thought Ismail played well in number 10 role second half. Wonāt provide the goals Ozzy did but him and Cook were linking up well at times.
Cookie going to be a real fans favourite, works his nut off and can win headers and hold the ball up, the sort of striker needed and lacking in the Smith era. Once again I liked Mazās cameo off the bench.
So there are good players at this club (and some not so good ones) but to have a chance at a comfortable mid table finish 3 good quality league one loans need to be signed in next 4 weeks like last year.
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good job deano took a look at him then, just goes to prove that playing for a championship side doesnāt automatically make you a better player.
But surely if he had signed he would of played? After all the friendly was there to give players match time.
Itās a bit difficult doing a match report when you canāt recognise half the players, and all they have is a number on their shorts ā¦ but here goes.
Our number (24) I think would have been Egert, and after 2 minutes Liam Roberts had to make a good save after (24)ās free kick went straight to a Cheltenham player. After 8 minutes Robertsā left hand post was rattled by a Cheltenham shot - not looking good at that stage. We had a corner after 10 minutes.
Cheltenham had a corner on 18 minutes, and Cook was back at the near post, helping the defence. Then there was a massive mis-kick from (24) again, after which he gave away a penalty - total lack of pace leading to a very clumsy challenge. Fortunately the penalty was scuffed wide of Robertsā right hand post.
We had our first real shot on 28 minutes, our number (19) bringing a full-length save from Flinders. Good interplay between (11) Ismail? and (19), 3 more corners in the next 10 minutes.
Chambersā class showed consistently - he was marking a guy at least 6 inches taller, but Chambers was winning the headers.
On the stroke of half-time, a fast brreak down the right wing by Ismail, who then fed wing-back Devlin who blazed an unstoppable shot past Flinders.
Half-time and we led 0-1 ā¦ at this stage it should be said that Cook had been winning loads of headers during the first half, but it often went to waste as no-one could feed off him. There is a definite understanding between Liam Roberts and Cook - clearances from Roberts were finding Cook with unerring accuracy.
Cook showed his shot strength early in the second half, by lamping a shot Colin Taylor style that cleared the crossbar by inches. Shortly afterwards he attacked the goal ball-on-the-ground, and even though he was forced almost to the goal line he blazed a shot across the face of the goal. Heās certainly not afraid to have a go.
Our number (5) was often on hand to put in excellent covering tackles - his speed was a definite asset when one of our wing-backs was caught upfield.
Cook did appear to tire as the game wore on - it had been played at a good pace, but he wonāt do himself any favours by moaning (at length) at the linesman when a decision goes against him.
A Walsall corner led to a header (Ismail?) that hit the post.
Walsall substitution late on saw Maz Kouhyar introduced, and he very soon showed class and pace, firing a shot in which hit the Cheltenham goalpost. Shortly afterwards he had another crack at goal, which Flinders managed to beat away, but Cook was following up and made no mistake. 0-2.
With only a couple of minutes left Cheltenham were awarded their 2nd penalty and this time gave Roberts no chance, sending him the wrong way.
Final score Cheltenham Town 1 Walsall 2
I lost count of the number of substitutes Cheltenham used, so what was a reasonably comfortable win should be assessed against the likelihood that we werenāt playing their 1st choice team.
Weak points for Walsall ā¦ well, the defence, obviously. There were quite a few occasions when our powder-puff tackling would have been a real liability if faced with a bunch of League One forwards. We also donāt seem to have the first idea about using a throw-in to our advantage - there was precious little movement, and the usual outcome was a hopeful upfield throw which gave possession away.
Positives ā¦ Cook will enjoy himself in League One - in a way he reminds me of Bernie Wright. He has a physical presence which heās not afraid to use, and his control is good on the ground. Perhaps if he shed a few pounds he might be even better? The link play between wing-backs and forwards was very good at times, and Liam Roberts is surely destined for a much higher level in the professional game.
Where was Bakayoko?
Sorry this report is so long, but itās not often I get the chance to see them!!! UTS 
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Itās very odd isnāt it? There is logic in what you say but if Brewitt isnāt joining us I couldnāt understand just leaving him on the bench. Anyway, weāll soon find out whatās happening.
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maybe deano has seen enough of him to know that he wantās to offer him a contract? and didnāt need to risk him?
An afterthought ā¦ as an observation of how different people see the same incident, I was chatting to a fellow Saddler at half-time and he was bemoaning the refereeās āoutrageousā decision to award Cheltenham their first penalty. It turns out he was sitting somewhere near the opposite corner flag, but I had a very close view from my seat and I have to say it was definitely a penalty. The World Cup displayed all the variations of defenders using their hands and arms to physically restrain an opposing player, and this particular contact was as clear-cut as they come.
(I think it was Dynamo Zuffle - he said he no longer looks at UTSā¦) 
Hasnāt Brewitt been playing more as full back in pre season anyway?
Very worrying Egert seems the only viable CB option alongside Guthrie unless DK is frantically on the phone to Stoke on Monday morning.
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I think he will be frantically on the phone to tony barras after that performance 
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quality
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Donāt e&s normally speak to manager afterwards nothing has been said
According to Massi on twitter. They donāt publish after match comments from friendlies until Monday.
I think thatās about it Chunkster. Brewitt would be a reasonable replacement for Kory this season. Deano was going to have Kory in at right back obviously with the versatility to play centre half. Brewitt can fulfill that role.
Brewitt has never played a 1st team game so it is unclear how good he is. What bothers me is he never went out on loan anywhere - really hope we do not sign him.
The problem is Darko we are not shopping in Waitrose!