Inspired by the FGR thread
You have to choose any 5 walsall players from history to take a penalty in a penalty shoot. Who do you choose?
Mine
Ledesma
David Kelly
Allan Clarke (going from the fact he scored them for England)
Zigor Aranalde
Will Grigg
Buckley has got to be in there. He must have missed at some point, but I can’t remember one.
I’ll have to have a think to name my 5 but Martin O’Connor is the best I have seen in my time following Walsall. Never in doubt.
I’m not saying Kelly didn’t take them at all but I don’t think he was the main taker. Paul Jones and Willie Naughton both took them in front of him in our promotion season in 87/88
MOC had a good record.
The best taker I’ve ever seen for us (although he only took one, and that was in a shootout) was Gary Porter. No messing, right in the postage stamp so hard the keeper hardly had a chance to move - not that he’d have been able to get anywhere near it even if he did. Never seen anyone take one half as good as that since.
From recollection Shakey scored quite a few but also skied some cause he just smashed it but sure he was on pens for a while.
O’Connor was similar with his power but more accurate.
Difficult more recently since it feels like we havent had many pens in the last decade.
I remember us missing two penalties at Cardiff in the mid 80s. Possibly Rees and O’Kelly, may be wrong about the takers though.
There was one that Buckley took that the ref didn’t give straightaway as it hit the stanchion at the back of the net so hard it rebounded out and he thought it must have hit the post so played on. Luckily the lino had seen it cross the line and waved his flag.
We famously won a penalty shoot out to decide the venue for the 1988 playoff final, a small but vital consolation but i dont have many fond memories of penalties not least away at Scunthorpe in the midish 90s when we missed about 3, maybe more. Some of the worst ive ever seen
The Scunthorpe game was my 18 birthday, was a good day other than penalties.
Colin Harrison took a decent pen if I remember correctly. ‘Twas s long time ago and I was only a babbay
Had a shot on him.
Was it Charlie Tarmac or Evran Wright who took the one where the keeper dived then got up and still stopped it before it reached the line?
yeah could have been Charlie. What a character
A legend for me but dropped some of the biggest clangers ive seen including that OG at home to west ham in the cup
We missed one in the match before v Derby( the most miserable weather for an Easter Monday I can remember. ) We had 4 penalties in two games- missed 3. 1986, I think.
Birmingham FA Cup 1982/83, Buckley hit the bar.
For the shoot-out I’m tempted to say buy some wigs and let a disguised Buckley take them all, but;
Harrison
Buckley
MOC
Hodge
Ricketts
I can remember Ricketts scoring an important one at Tranmere in 2000, and some others, but he and Hodgey might have missed some, I’ve gone a bit blank.
Worst I’ve seen from a Saddler was probably Kevin Wilson against Watford (I think) in the League Cup, which he put into orbit.
Colin Taylor. He didn’t take many but it was bad for the goalie if he got in the way. 
More seriously it has to be Allan Clarke followed by Martin O ‘ Connor .
Dont think O Connor ever missed a penalty for us, if he did i dont recall. Defenitly O Connor and Paul Jones best penalty takers from my time following Walsall.
I might be spouting knackers (wouldn’t be the first time) but I reckon that a far higher proportion of pens were scored in days gone by due to the absence of technology, which today allows penalty takers to be studied to the nth degree by their opposition, and the fact that most goalies are giants compared to their predecessors.
Possibly more to do with the fact that goalies couldn’t move under the old rules. Now that they can dodge about (on the line), it gives them a chance as they don’t have to be static before the ball leaves the taker’s boot.
I imagine the woolly gloves and the wet Casey with the lace hanging out didn’t help 
BTW, hoping to catch up on Tuesday Andy 