There is yes but the quality is debatable isn’t it, It certainly weakens a team which has just been outplayed by Newport.
It’s not so much the injuries it’s the non existent back up to fill the gaps on the pitch that’s the problem like I’ve already said we took a gamble and signed a starting 11 with a back up that’s not very good hoping that the starting 11 would stay fit now that was either the plan or the budget that was the reason behind that decision either way we have Kinsella Labadie Wilkinson and Holden that all would be starters now injured and I’m sorry but Perry Bates and Willis aren’t good enough replacements something has happened to Bates and I can’t quite put my finger on what as he looked promising at one stage.
They don’t like it up em Captain Mainwearing.
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I think it will be for any club at this level relying on their 5th or 6th choice centre mids. We do have them though. And to be fair Earing was earmarked as a great signing at the time with, apparently, “lots of clubs wanting him” (although I seem to read that about every signing), Perry was seen as a break through prospect over a year ago now, Alfie Bates made 30 odd league appearances last season and Willis has looked like the next player off that particular conveyor belt. If they’re not good enough we should have signed a better player than Earing or moved a couple of them on and brought somebody else in.
I can’t disagree that it’s debatable quality, but I’m not sure the club, or Fullarton, see it that way. Again, I didn’t agree with that recruitment policy at the time.
Whichever way you look at it, the squad is threadbare. They would have known that with injuries and suspensions they would have to call on untried youngsters at some stage, and looking at the youth team’s results, they either aren’t good enough or ready for Div 2, or both!
Having listened to the BBC article about dodgy agents today, I’m not surprised we can’t compete in the transfer market. Agents charges have rocketed, and even free transfers can cost thousands overall.
How do other clubs of Walsall’s size cope then?
As we know, we don’t take risks. So, the club will naturally find it’s true level, which I would suggest is National League or one division below.
Painful as that seems, we may have to get used to this. Ask Stockport, Chesterfield, Notts County fans. We don’t have a devine right to stay in the EFL.
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In certain places. Like I say, I think it’s been spent unevenly. We’ve got 6 central midfielders, 3 CAMs (granted one is crocked), 3 right backs, 1 36 year old left back, 1 on loan out and out striker, 1 left mid. Its so incredible jumbled, but at least people have seen it for thereselves now rather than calling it an overreaction when we sign yet another player in a position we don’t really need.
I disagree that we literally can’t afford to put a balanced League 2 side together, or that National League is our level. Have a look at attendance levels, or turnover compared to some teams in this division. We just don’t seem to know how too.
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That’s a really good point.
Our expectations were quite well managed for a long time. The sustained Championship football ambition quietly shelved to the point where John Whitney was extolling his own virtues and achievement at keeping us in the division below that. A notion that the third division was punching above our weight which just didn’t sit right with me. We are the archetypal third division club and smaller clubs than us seem to be holding their own there.
Now we are in the fourth division by most metrics we are quite a big deal. A reasonably sized fish in a fairly small pond. Yet our ability to compete on the pitch seems to be questionable. Our first season down here we finished twelfth and then last season we were nineteenth. We now sit nineteenth in a table still fairly immature but taking shape. That our goalkeeper is unquestionably our best player underscores this. Not that he is our goalkeeper at all, ditto our best defender and best forward.
Based upon crowds and turnover we should be top six in this division. We feel a long way from there. And I don’t just mean results. We haven’t been unlucky in any game. Our keeper preventing at least a couple of absolute wallopings.
So to Bristol Rovers - you worry that we could be an advert for managers in Barton’s position. On a bad run? Under pressure? Need a win? Any win? Come to Walsall - our experts have been ending bad runs for years. Michael from Newport said “I hadn’t won a league game for a month. I found the staff from Walsall extremely accommodating and my winless worries were gone in ninety minutes”. Mark from Southend said “my team hadn’t won for eight months. Being honest I didn’t think anybody could help and must admit to being cynical when somebody recommended Walsall to me. But I needn’t have worried at all”.
Anyway - joking aside, it looks like a car and train medley for a 1-1 draw in front of 5,230 (1,450) with me trying to recall the host of chances Matt refers to in his post match.
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All Bristol Rovers have to do is play 3 centre halves to drown out Millers threat and for Barton to show them a video of our long balls against Mansfield then the rest should fall into place for them I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team have around 40% possession at home as much as we do so Rovers will be quite shocked with how much of the ball they are going to get away from home,throw all that in with the fact we can’t stop crosses being delivered into our box and it’s back off down south with a happy following all talking on the coaches and in cars at how bloody easy that was and whilst there’s teams like Walsall in the league they will be safe from the bottom 2 places.
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This surely falls at the DOFs door
Does anyone know the extent of Kinsella’s injury?
Now that our DOF has finished his business of bringing some distinctly average footballers into the club and can’t bring in anymore until January what is his current role?
Just asking.
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To wait until January and bring in some more average player’s that’s literally his job , 90 % of people wanted us to have a DOF well here we are we’ve got one . Personally I don’t think a average league 2 club needs one but our “Head Coach” Is inexperienced so for us we probably do
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I’d hope to be driving round the country, to academies and reserve games, to look for potential future targets, on top of keeping a closer eye on our contract situations, making sure they don’t go down to the wire (for the few worth keeping) or, as with Adebayo, we almost lose the player because our incumbent manager doesn’t know the rules on international transfers (cheers Darrell!) and therefore negotiating with agents.
Again, I’d hope that is what he is doing.
I was originally up For the Dof appointment, however it seems like we are asking him to perform on a shoe string.
Ironically the fact he’s got a job means he’ll be operating on a shoestring his wages would pay for a decent league 2 forward.
I’d hate to have his job it would be very embarrassing it would be like bargain hunt when the blue team and the red team go around asking stall holders the price of something then when the stall holder says £15 best price they say can we have it for £14 please .
Was it ever going to be any different than a shoestring budget Maz? No matter who we had as a DOF the budget was always going to be the same surely and he would have known how we operate when he’d have walked out of the interview room.We were warned about Fullerton by Halifax fans I personally thought it was sour grapes but 5 months in and I’m not sure they were far away with there predictions of a waste of time and useless etc etc
It’s a tough one mate, the only thing that disappoints me is I don’t believe we have signed any players that we couldn’t have done so without a DOF.
Monthe, Taylor , Ward , Ladabie and Wilkinson all players that needed a decent contract offer. I also think the striker debacle is worrying, but maybe that says more about the club than the DOF.
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Hopefully the Rovers players will want to give Barton a helping hand out of the door and therefore won’t be at it.
2-0 Walsall
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Not a bad shout Belph if I had a choice out of Joey Barton who’s full of himself and basically a penis or Matt Taylor to play under I’d choose our manager all day long and I reckon most players in the game today would too.Being a moody so and so and chucking boots around dressing rooms doesn’t resonate with players these days they like a manager like we have in charge an arm round the shoulder man who doesn’t name and shame in public and only raises the voice when it’s absolutely necessary to do so not for the sake of it or because that’s their personality(shouting and being loud)
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Honestly think we will lose Saturday… I can’t make it due to work commitments but can just see it… I know we have been good at home so far but we always seem to give struggling sides the boost they need to go on an unbeaten run… 0-2 for me