… "I saw the last of Waring… Oh, never star was lost here, but it rose afar!"
(Robert Browning)
Before we get to the stage of competing seriously in the “real” Cup, and probably face the might of Boldmere St. Michaels, we have the 1st round of the EFL Cup (Carabao Cup, League Cup, takeyour pick) where we travel to the Wirral to take on Andy Cook’s previous club Tranmere Rovers. Newly promoted to League 2, Tranmere have made a good start with their League form matching ours:-
August 4th Stevenage (A) Drew 2-2
August 11th Cheltenham Town (H) Won 1-0
A factor to note about these results is that all 3 goals were scored by James Norwood, who formed the striking partnership with Andy Cook at Prenton Park. It would seem that if we keep Norwood quiet we improve our chances of progressing. Just think … a Cup run…
What of Dean Keates’ team selection? If he is taking this competition seriously he could well stick with the starting XI against Scunthorpe - on the other hand it may well be a suitable occasion to give squad players more than a cameo role. I’m sure we would like to see what JoshGordon is capable of, and Maz Kouhyar’s appearance late on at Cheltenham certainly showed promise. Wait and see!!
Prediction? Our new-found attacking attitude should see a Saddlers’ win, so how about a 1-2 result, with Cook and Gordon finding the net.
I doubt whether Keates will play a full strength team.Can’t see him leaving Cook out against his old team but ideally Candlin and Gordon would get a run out.It would also give Osbourne another 90 mins to help with his match fitness.I think we will win 2-1.
Actually think he will rest Cookie. He looks the key to our season, for all Ferriers clear attributes I think Saturday showed Cook will be the main goalscorer. I think Gordon will come in for him and 2 games in 4 days might be a bridge to far for Osbourne without a preseason so maybe a start for Kinsella. Would also like to see Wilson get 90 minutes for Devlin. Other than that first team and a scrappy win!
Really not bothered about this competition, start Gordon , Kinsella, Candlin etc. I’d keep Osbourne wrapped up and use the training matches to build his fitness.
I’d rather we went out of this early , got points on the board in the league and had a real go in the FA Cup.
Much easier to get a big draw in this home or away than the FA cup.
Got a feeling this will go to penalties. I believe it goes to them after 90 minutes if it’s a draw so hopefully with the same outcome as the JPT in 14/15. Paul Downing winner.
Not big draws though are they , 3rd round of this cup and folk still won’t be all that bothered … that’s unless we Draw Chelsea and all of the plastic fans come out .
but then you’ve provided the counter point, if you don’t like argument, that those fixtures will draw a full stadium, league cup or FA. They are definitely still big draws.
filling the stadium with 10,000 plastics in round 2 of the League cup against a team like Chelsea does not make it a big draw. All it means is the local United and Villa fans can bring their kids down for a night out.
Now drawing a prem side in round 3 of the FA Cup does make it a big draw. There’s a huge difference in the way people view both cups That’s my point. FA Cup round 3 day is one of the most exciting days in the football calendar.
Because that wouldn’t be 10,000 people filled with fans of other clubs? Absolute nonsense to suggest otherwise, we get about 5 and half K if we are lucky of fans I assume you wouldn’t class as “plastic” ( I mean the mere suggestion Walsall have plastic fans is hilarious to be honest but that’s another point).
I never said people don’t view the FA Cup differently. They definitely do and yes it is a bigger deal than the league cup. But saying it’s not a big draw for a club like Walsall isn’t fair at all.
Talking of plastic fans, not all of them are, most of them are fans that have supported the club through the 70’s 80’s and 90’s, and have just become disillusioned with the direction that bonser took us in, i know there were a lot of plastic fans at wembley, but the amount of faces i saw there that i hadn’t seen for over 20-30 years was unreal.
Yep. My Grandfather went who’s probably been to more Walsall games in his time than most of the people on this site. Doesn’t go unless it’s a big occasion though now cos he can’t hack it, the absolute plastic.
