I noticed one of our players did just that after the 6th went in.
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I thought we missed Josh Gordon last night to put their defence under pressure when they had the ball. Their early substitue(no. 17?) looked shakey and almost conceeded an own goal with his overhit pass even with no one pressing him.
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very deflated after last night. Felt it might be a game too far and it certainly was. We started well but they were in control after their first goal went in and even when we went back in front I still felt they imposed their game better than us. Having said that the goals conceded were very disappointing. The penalty was unnecessary as their was cover in the area. The headed goal was hard to take when we have got a tall back line and a tall goalkeeper. I couldnāt see the alleged foul on Simpkin from my seat, but again their player won the ball in the air to set up the scramble that led to the goal. That shouldnāt have happened with our back line imho. I hope we can play with the energy we have seen previously on Saturday as it seemed to run out in the second half last night.
We are missing Josh. Lowe is having to play more games than planned and that is beginning to show. I think Cleary and DJ must be in with a chance of starting on Saturday. Last night was clearly the game when all the players finally ran out of energy. Not surprising when you look at who we have played over the past few weeks. We need to keep Matt fit as long as we can too so the two week break coming up should help him and others recover.
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Entirely agree. For all the noise about Gordon not scoring enough goals if heād played last night Iād venture the result would have been different.
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Just checking in to share my thoughts and views from last nightās game. Apologies if I repeat anything that others have already said.
Walking back to the car after that felt like a huge reality check and a crash back down to Earth. Although there are many criticisms that can be provided both individually and collectively with the teamās performance, I am trying to not be too irate, despondent or reactive as we have been brilliant overall since the start of the season. We are still sitting in the top three, averaging 2 points a game, with some fantastic performances in the cup. The real test and gauge will be how we respond and react to this performance at Chesterfield on Saturday.
My biggest concern with Sadler (and Iāve said this repeatedly) is that I donāt think his style of play, with his expectations around the press and lack of possession and ball retention, are sustainable over the course of a season. It is incredibly taxing on the players, and with the frequency and congestion of the fixtures, the players will inevitably break down through fatigue and injuries. We have only reached October, and we can already see the signs and the symptoms around this. The players looked out on their feet and completely flat during that first half and this continued into the second half. I was shocked to see no changes from Saturdayās starting line up and anticipated Sadler rotating a few after the hard yards put in during the Leicester and Colchester games.
I think that as calamitous and lacklustre as that performance was last night (and rightly deserving of a lot of criticism), as a fanbase, we need to be a bit more tolerant and holistic with this team, particularly based on what we have witnessed and the context of what we have experienced over the course of the season so far. My only reservation and concern is that we have seen this kind of collapse before during games last season under Sadler ie. Sutton, MK Dons and Wimbledon. Letās hope that it is just uncharacteristic as Sadler stated and we can revert back to this seasonās form and not regress back to the issues of last season.
I can appreciate some of the frustration but some of the outrage and actions/booing/jeering from some fans in the ground last night was over the top in my view; we really donāt want to be one of those fickle fanbases like some clubs can be. We have been great for the best part of 13 games prior to last night so lets not obliterate them after one adverse game.
In the second half, I was on the halfway line in the family stand and I have never seen Liam Gordon look so poor. His body language, demeanour and play displayed a man that looked either devoid of confidence or devoid of energy. He looked like he just didnāt want to be on the pitch last night. He looked like a defeated man and their number 2 in his opposing position destroyed him for the entirety of the game. I donāt know if it is a case that Sadler needs to manage the number of minutes that he and others play or whether it is the fact that Gordonās lacklustre performances coincide with when he hasnāt got any competition or a threat in his position. Iām not quite sure.
At the end of the day, we had too many players completely off the pace last night and overall a bad day at the office so hopefully we can bounce back on Saturday. Ultimately though, sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition and applaud them for their teamās performance. They were outstanding in all phases of the game and thoroughly deserved their win. They have some very talented players for this level and I anticipate that they will be competing at the top of the division at the end of the season.
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One other thing to mention.
I was in the family stand on the halfway line and must say that the Fleetwood fans were absolutely fantastic from start to finish last night. Although they came in such small numbers, the noise and volume that they created didnāt correlate with their numbers at all, and they cheered and supported their team from start to finish, even when they went behind twice.
Although I was gutted about us losing and the manner in the defeat, I also felt a degree of pleasure in seeing those small number of Fleetwood fans that made that risk and commitment to travel down to us on a cold Tuesday night. Those sets of loyal fans at this level are the life blood of football in this country. I still recall the joy and euphoria of driving back from Grimsby on my own last season when we scored 6 so can imagine that they were all overjoyed at being one of the few that witnessed such an epic game for them.
Its just a massive shame that their idiot players couldnāt grasp the value of that sentiment and would rather taunt our supporters, instead of celebrating with their own fans.
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This where Sadler earns his corn, to prevent the season flipping over on its head !
Agree. Fair play to them for keeping that going all game but they definitely need to widen their repertoire of songs.
Having 2 songs would be an improvement.
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No, I think you press but not necessarily into the box. I think it also does make a difference, as you imply, what the level is. You need to have defenders very comfortable on the ball to do some of the moves shown in the video.
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I can still hear it now 
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Same as the weekend early KOās. Scuppered me on Saturday due to other commitments.
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Iām kind of regretting this post in the build up to last nightās game.
What a way to find out. 
Totally agree, itās all your faultā¦ you got any suggestions for lottery numbers?
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We were second to the ball most of the night and looked like we were tired and struggling to get going , understandable after a tough week. They caught us on a bad day. I dont think we will be that bad again or Fleetwood that good. Just one of those nights.
Tall goalkeeper ?
6 foot and a bit I understand. And of course he can use his arms/hands which should give him an advantage. Doesnāt use it enough for me.
Could that solution for RCB be Rico Browne? - he must have been brought in for a reason.
And, by the sounds of his co-commentary last night, he would certainly give 100%.
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I agree with much of what many have said. It was horrible sitting there watching us taken apart by Fleetwood but 20 plus hours on from the game Iām starting to look forward to Saturday as opposed to looking back to Tuesday.
The positive Iāll take from it was in those opening twenty minutes when we saw the real saddlers, the saddlers who were running Fleetwood ragged.
Sadly all those Tuesday Saturday games finally caught up with us.
Yes there were several players well below par but Iāll be at Chesterfield supporting them no matter who takes to the field of play. Yes I hated being sat there watching that match but I wonāt stop supporting Walsall.
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Some of the Simkin comments have been a tad harsh in my view. Apart from the one that went through him he sadly had to deal with a defence who forgot how to defend - largely due to great movement from the attackers and a poor showing from Dave. Just my thoughts.
Onwards we go.