A break from League One pressures as we enter the 1st round proper of the F.A. Cup, the “real” cup competition, and savour the thought of something called a “cup run”. The obstacle comes in the form of a resurgent Coventry City side who have taken 13 points from their last 5 League One games (we have taken a measly 3 points if that gives you any idea of current form). There will probably be a couple of familiar faces in their line-up, in the shape of Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila and the more recently acquired Amadou Bakayoko - and if we display the kind of generosity shown to Charlton Athletic’sKrystian Bielik in scoring, then we can probably expect much the same from these two ex-Saddlers.
I won’t depress everyone with a detailed list of their current matches - just be aware that in the last month or so they have beaten Doncaster Rovers at home, and won away at Southend United and Charlton Athletic. Oh, and they beat Barnsley in September as well …
Dean Keates’ problems are basically twofold … not only does he have the tricky task of selecting his estimation of the best starting XI, but just as importantly he has to find some way of motivating players who seem to have “switched off” over the past few weeks. Some of the most basic requirements in playing football are not being met, and a glaring example is our conduct at throw-ins where the Saddler taking the throw has the responsibility of finding a team mate in space to ensure possession. This so often proves impossible because no-one is moving into space, or trying to draw his marker away so as to make space for another Saddler. Accurate passing of the ball also seems to have been forgotten, or dismissed as unimportant, and the (in)accuracy of crosses from the wing is a prime example in this category.
The fitness of certain players has been called into question recently, and it is a feature of the pace of current League One football that anyone who is not totally match fit will get found out quickly, and once found out that weakness will be quite rightly exploited by the opposition. Again, if tired legs are beginning to be noticed after 60 minutes then substitution should be considered then, and not at 84 minutes when all is probably lost, and the new player has precious little chance of making any impression in the game.
Rant over - and prediction time … As every week goes by, the “hope springs eternal” mindset comes into play, and this Saturday is no exception. If the appropriate stimulation can be successfully applied, and we can start to play in the style that propelled us into the play-off zone, we are quite capable of winning this 2-1 - Cook and Morris(what a welcome return that would be) to score.
I think Dean should show the players some of the stuff on here. If that doesn’t motivate them to prove some people wrong then nothing will!!! A cup run beckons…1-0 to us .
Another loss for me i’m afraid, and just to rub it in Backa to score in the away end and run the length of the pitch to the floors to go with his hand cupping his ear
Saturday’s game also worth £36k in prize money, and in my opinion is a very big game in our season. Most would have taken mid-table/top half and a cup run this season so the opportunity is still there if we can rediscover form and maybe get a break or two. Local derby with 3k away fans, Baka, Jordy and Robins all coming back trying to haunt us? Time to get the spirit of early season back.
The players, and maybe DK himself have messed up over the last few games, but they deserve some decent support in an effort to put things right based on the good performances previously.
Just hope we get a good start, or it could be a painful afternoon!
If Man United can beat Juve, we should be able to beat Coventry!
Whoa! there, those blooming pigs at low altitude again…
Would REALLY like us to get to a second round at least, to combat the depression that most of us feel at the moment, a nostalgic away match, losing to the likes of Chessington Zoo Rovers or similar, a bit like the good old Mullen/Whitney/Merson days.
Think there is a general feeling that Coventry fans will outnumber us though!
This may sound controversial but the removal of loan players from the squad might help us. Personally, I would give Roberts a breather in goal and also bring in Zeli to play behind Cook. As a curve ball, give Bates a go in midfield - he would be highly motivated and frankly, I doubt he could do any worse. Osbourne and Dobby badly need a rest.
Yeah that’s a strange one, their fans think he is as crud as we thought he was, and despite scoring two goals in his last match for them, he was unceremoniously dropped, and hasn’t played for them since I believe so it’s doubtful that he will turn out for them on Saturday.
Got to play Kinsella . Osbourne has been shocking for most of the home games I have seen . While kinsella has been MOTM on the 2 occasions I have seen him play Macclesfield and charlton . Give him a run of games could be just the player we need in the middle . He’s committed, aggressive and always talking to his team mates .
At least we now have the curse of the manager of the month award on our side as Mark Robbins won the award for November.
rearrange:
Straws at clutching
Well, after Tuesday’s nonsense I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t bother to get a ticket for tomorrow - just like a few others posting on here.
But then I thought, after 50 years of watching Walsall, I’ve never let the fact that a Walsall team can’t actually play football spoil my Saturday afternoon pleasure.
Ticket duly purchased.
Oh, and I think we’ll lose tomorrow
UTS
