Having a pop for saying he should be doing his job ???
wasn’t czuzman the clown having a pop at us fans who pay is wage on social media, plus didn’t he talk down to fans too at a league game ??? The bloke should do his job and be watching for any lads that are stretching too much in warm up and not pretending he’s Messi and ■■■■■■■ about.
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Pre-Season is all about fitness which I understand, but I’ve never really got the whole making rafts of changes with 30 mins to go. I’ve very rarely seen it achieve anything except disrupt a game which is exactly what it did.
Starting 11 all did pretty well and we looked solid and comfortable. We can only assume that this will be Clarke’s starting 11, what I will say is on the current setup and squad this season will see lot’s of 1-0, 1-1, or 2-0 or 2-1 results. I can’t see us blowing teams away in a high scoring game, we just don’t currently have the creativity or clinical finishing to do so.
The changes made will have cemented in Clarke’s mind what his starting 11 will be. Barring Bates and Hardy, who could bring that creativity, the others were average at best. Slinn and Holden are far from the answer so we need to be moving on from them as they were abysmal.
Result is meaningless and I still think we will be okay for the season ahead, however the next three signings will be key to determining if we can turn an okay season into an outstanding one, but I don’t think we should be waiting until the end of August to sort it.
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OMG their equalizer was a joke? Who was it standing around watching no 4?
Pre season isn’t always as irrelevant as people make out, It frustrates me when people suggest that.
Yes the results don’t matter but the style of play , passing , quality , finishing , defending will not change to much going into the season.
We are desperately short of quality attacking options but look pretty strong through the middle of the park.
Apart from the bizarre game against Ajax , I think our pre seasons of the past few years have been pretty telling to how our league campaign went.
I can’t remeber the last time we actually gave a team a tonking?
Although to end on a positive I like how DC is building his squad , the current 11 is very hard working and looks hard to break down. Again 2/3 good dealings could see an exciting season ahead.
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Good move to run out of the wall 
According to the highlights we only got into their half twice, and they only showed the second one as it was when the final whistle went 
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County definitely deserved to win,they were the better team going by the highlights.They will do well in the National league next season.
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While it would be good to have every single player we want/need in the squad as early as we can before the start of the season so they can get as much time as possible to gel as a team, there are some factors out of our control - especially to a club if our size in League 2.
Released/retained lists and provisional offers usually come out mid to late May after clubs have finished all their games. Many players then go on holiday (they don’t get chance of a week/fortnight on a Costa somewhere with family etc any other time). So you are talking no earlier than June even for cast offs and already free-agents - players who get extension offers but decide not to take them typically aren’t free until July.
Then there is a bit of a hiatus when you come to the players still under contract who you might tempt away (if their current club is willing to let them go). Some (like Ferrier and Dobson) might be obvious early on, but many depend on what other wheeler-dealing a club does that make a particular player now surplus to requirements or key to their squad.
Now you can blow your budget by just going for whatever is in the shop window early doors, or you can wait to see if anything better comes online later on. And the key to that part for us is what business the Premiership and Championship teams do. This season their transfer window closes on 8th August while for League 1 and 2 it’s the 2nd September. It’s only when the dust settles on their dealings that you get the chains of knock-on transfers happening that eventually trickle down to us.
So today we could eye up that striker at League 1 Club X as our first choice but he’s not available right now because they won’t sell/releas so we move on down our list to our 2nd, 3rd etc until we get one that we can get to move before the season starts. Or we wait to see if Club X manages to get that Championship player from Club Y they wanted now that Y have bagged the lad from the Premiership that suddenly found his way to first team football blocked etc etc. The gamble of course is that after you’ve waited the chain doesn’t happen, your first choice remains unavailable, and 2nd, 3rd … are now also gone and you’re left with 10th, 11th and the kids left at the end when you pick sides at school.
Now of course you could short cut that by offering Club X so much money that they would let their player go immediately even before they get in a replacement - and I know that there are some on here who think that is what we should be doing (and if it wasn’t for the rent we could … and so on. I’m sure I’ve seen a thread about this somewhere? 
). Well since even big clubs like the Man Utds and Liverpools of this world don’t always get the players on their shopping list and nearly always have last minute (literally) signings, I don’t see why anyone would think we should be different - it’s just a fact of footballing life.
I do agree that 2-3 quality players (striker/wingers) will be the difference in us making a bid for promotion or not, but I won’t be moaning if Clarke bides his time rather just bring in bodies before Northampton.
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They are County’s own highlights so not exactly unbiased. That was just about all the efforts that they had in the whole game. We did manage a few more than shown (admittedly not that many - but at least as highlight worthy as their one blocked shot in the first half, and the header that went a mile wide - Alfie Bate’s shot that skimmed the top of the net for one).
If they make the full 90 minutes available you’d see how comfortable the mainly starting-11 looked for 60 minutes, and how lost the depth-of-squad were for the last 30.
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Totally agree with your summing up. I thought that that was Bates weakest performance so far but he is definitely a good prospect. Other than Wes on the wing, we had nothing up front for the last 30 minutes. Candlin was constantly muscled off the ball unlike Gordon and Adebayo. I still don’t see Holden as good enough.
He is doing his job though
I agree with what your saying and wouldn’t moan anyway as I trust Clarke as a Manager 100% more than the two previous incumbents.
My point was more based around we will have played 6 games by the end of August, 2 of which are against fancied teams in Plymouth and FGR. Therefore in an ideal world it would be good to be up and running straight away rather than potentially wasting a month of the season.
The danger for me in what you state is that we don’t get the players, through the chain of events you describe, and we are left with little depth as highlighted yesterday. An early injury to one of the front 2 and we are relying on Candlin, who for a spell in a Championship sides Academy doesn’t appear to have progressed on iota.
But as you say this is Walsall and I’m putting my faith and backing in Clarke to be able to polish a few turds!
50+ years mate, but mostly from a distance, probably like yourself, also work most Saturdays, so the occasional game is like gold dust for me! I know last season was utterly abysmal, but I have laid down money on Auto & Play off places this season under DC, who I trust, but, we DO need a striker, without one we are doomed to mid table which would be a shame with so many hungry young stars in DC’s squad.
UTS!
That’s about the same as me, mate.Obviously I’ve yet to see them this season but after last season’s debacle it can only get better,surely.
I try to be optimistic and I’m sure DC knows what we need (let’s hope so!).
I’m tempted to have a flutter too.
Getting sick and tired of the constant lack of understanding of professional football.
It is not a computer game. There are so many permutations in the real world with regards player aqusitions. Particularly the domino affect referred to elsewhere, when one move can spark another move.
You don’t just press a few buttons and the player signs!
I said before a ball was kicked that I hoped Bates and Candlin would step up and look like first team players. It looks like Bates is ready to do that, at least from the bench, but Candlin isn’t. So for me we need one signing that being a decent, experienced striker, that’s different from the two we have.
Lets hope we shift Dobson, Ferrier, and possibly Candlin out (on loan at least, which he should have been two years ago) this week, and get at least one in. Regards wide men, both of our current front two have played out wide, as can Hardy, so I do think we’ve got options there if we wanted to switch formation without signing players who are likely to be squad fillers. I’d rather just go for one quality signing up front.
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Cannot agree more. One signing of a half decent experienced striker could really unite the club and give impetus for the season. Some one in the Martin Butler, Kevin Wilson mould who would set an example for the younger strikers. Not a ■■■■ like Cook.
So his job is to ■■■■ about with a football, the last physio we had thought he could manage this one thinks he can play.
It won’t be this week we will be getting shot of the likes of Ferrier et al, this isn’t a computer game as I have been reliably informed 
You really have brought into the Walsall F.C. model …
We’re the only club to use this excuse every bloody season! And guess what … it got us relegated.
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I often think when I get the hiccups when drunk, it isnt a computer game …it just makes me feel better having that thought. cheers
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