If Swansea-Morecambe remains level, Swansea will be lumped with a midweek replay a few days before playing us in an early Saturday KO.
I'm surprised how lacking in ambition Walsall were. I'm pleased that the youngsters were given their chance and performed well in most cases but you would think against a young team with so many changes Walsall would have pushed harder. In the first half they just let us play without any pressing whatsoever. The best chances they had were in the second half after they pressed us into making mistakes, but they rarely did it. Maybe they made changes as well but that was as easy as it gets. Baffling.
I thought that the match was not much of a contest but felt that the youngsters eventually managed to understand what Martin had asked of them in performing to his system. Fraser was the stand out player although I have to admit I was fascinated to see some of the fringe players get a start. The unfamiliar faces made the match more interesting than it might have done. In the end, it was a comfortable win even if the game should have been done and dusted before half time. I am not sure abiut Mara. Jo Tessum seems quite negative. I think that, given more opportunties, he will prove to be better than expected and suggested by the attempts he failed to convert in the first half. It was an enjoyable match and maybe an insight into the fringe players who make helpus get over the line in May.
Mara’s goal was very well taken, but there were about 3 chances where he should have at least hit the target. A few times he didn’t seem to have much positional awareness. I’m not convinced, I don’t see what the club are seeing in him but hey ho.
I quite like the lad and seen some good flashes of play from him. Not always easy to make an impact with minutes here and there but he is still learning from the experience
In the 120 minutes of football he's played since early December, he's scored 2 and assisted 1, plus he won the penalty that Charly missed. Not bad going.
So Ian, what are your thoughts on the season so far? You were pretty convinced RM wasn’t the right man. Have you changed your mind? I was optimistic, impressed, crestfallen, horrified and have become increasingly charmed with what he has achieved so far.
I didn’t realise he had played that little. 60 minutes per goal, if he played every game he would bang in 69 goals this season!
