Walsall Match Thread

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Some thing I would like to note.

Firstly, for our goal. The linesman was the closest official to the fouling incident and did not flag for a foul, but the ref called it and it was a correct decision. So in theory the decision has gone our way and thus the 3 points were ours.

N'Guessan MOTM but was a poor game of quality, but an entertaining fixture. Little clear cut chances or any high quality performers. So the goal alone earnt him MOTM for me.

Hamer battered through Morrison at one point to clear the ball, which left Morrison on the ground. Morrison got up and barely acknowledged the incident.

Finally, have to echo the comments previously about Kermorgant. He looked in so much pain in the first half, first with his arm then with is ankle. A true warrior and upright professional. Never see him rolling around on the ground like those premier league footballers ay?
 
ybabobmij said:
Evening all. Just got back. A massively huge 3 points yet again. Nearly there now. Not a vintage performance by any means but then again how many of those have we had this season? First half was generally good although Walsall looked dangerous more often than was desirable. Second half was pretty dismal. Some of that I will put down to tiredness, some maybe to the pressure of the situation. Player marks as follows. Some of these may be controversial but its how I saw it:

Hamer - 7. had a few good saves and was generally dependable. Still signs of some confidence issues between him and Morro but much better than a few weeks ago. Nearly slipped at a crucial moment late on which would have been a disaster.

Solly - 9. Great performance. But lucky to be on the pitch for a very badly timed tackle in the second half that, amazingly, went unpunished. What goes around comes around I guess!

Morro - 7. Heaps of work but not as assured as earlier. Threatened to let his temper get the better of him after some poor refereeing decisions. His relationship with Hamer is a worry.

Cort - 8. A rock. Continued his recent level of performance. My mate disagreed. Thought he was shaky. Just shows that we all see things differently!

Wiggins - 8. Good game defensively and a power of work in attack. Began to link up with JJ again and we've missed that. Again, very lucky not to be at least booked for a very reckless and deliberate clear out tackle on an opponent in the second half.

Pritchard - 7 Curate's egg. Got an early booking which meant he coiuldn't tackle for the rest of the game but still managed to be an utter pest and break up their play. Did a lot of good things but did a lot of careless/bad things too, but can't be faulted for effort. Not a long term solution in the next league up IMHO but a good shift today.

Stephens - 3. Is seriously beginning to worry/annoy me. I was screaming at him in frustration today. Can't/won't tackle and when he does he cocks it up. Distribution was awful. Persists in passing backwards without looking. Total luxury that we can barely afford at the moment. I persist in my view that he will be a better player in the championship, but he nearly cost us the game today.

N'Guessan - 8. I freely admit that I was wrong about him when I compared him to Leon Clarke. Immense first half. Invaluable goal. Powerful, direct and a real handful. Went totally missing in the second half - a trait that I have been warned about by a Millwall supporting friend (yes I am that cosmopolitan!). I don't think we will ever get 90 minutes out of him, but we will forever thank him for his goals in recent games. Standing ovation when substituted. Deserved it.

Jackson - 6. Easing his way back to fitness. Some lovely link up with Wiggy. Couldn't make up his mind whether he was playing left side or in the middle. I blame Stephens for that. Tired noticeably. Over elaborated when in a scoring position in first half. Good to have him back.

Kermorgant - 9. This guy is a warrior. How he got through 90 minutes I will never know. He was screaming in agony after an ankle injury right in front of us after half an hour and could barely walk. Chose the wrong option when on the ball now and again but that was as much to do with BWP's incompetence as anything else.

BWP - 3. I'll get shouted down for this but I thought he was complete and utter shyte. Even worse that against Orient. Didn't even look as though he was trying today. If we get an offer for him I'd accept it. Sorry, but that's how I feel at the moment.

Haynes - 7. Great cameo. Gave us a much needed option up front. If he'd been on at half time I think we'd have scored a few.

Taylor and Cook - Didn't have long enough for marks but did what they had to do.

Mr Baldy Bonce Referee. Not as bad as the last two. But still lamentable. At least he was just generally bad as opposed to bad against us. Wiggins and Solly both very fortunate.

I may be being a little harsh given the crucial stage we are at. I have come home relieved and pleased that we are nearly there. I would love to be just that little bit more jubilant about the performance but maybe there is time for that when we have it done and dusted.
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BWP not at his best but listen to offers absolutely rediculous bit like united diwanted rid of evans or town rhodes he scores goals without his goals we wouldnt wi the league simple as that .
 
It was another of those games where a neutral might look at the play and wonder why we are top of the league. Well it sure ain't pretty, but we're back to winning ways with 3 clean sheets and 9 points. The players have coped with the pressure of leading the division nearly all season, and are playing safety-first. Remember how Morro used to run out of defense with the ball at the beginning of the season? Not going to happen now when you're defending a 1-0. I wouldn't criticise any of our players today. Stephens is trying to play a role which doesn't really suit him, and often looks to me as if he's trying too hard. And Pritchard after a first half when nothing worked for him, never hid, and came back in the second to earn his place as a right royal nuisance. When you look at today's team, how much they cost and where they came from, I'm delighted with this 1-0.
 
BWP is a shadow of the player he was earlier in the season when he was greedy, arrogant and deadly (all desirable qualities in a striker). That version of BWP I freely admit is a highly desirable asset and we owe him a great deal for his pre-Christmas contribution. However, he has been a pale shadow of that player for some months. He looks hesitant on the ball, is not taking chances (his two efforts in the secoind half today were poor) and in the last couple of games has looked sulky and is not making the runs or effort that kept him as an asset even when he was going through his barren spell. If he can rekindle the desire and the magic then he'd be the first name on my team sheet. But the player I have watched in the last two games in which I have seen him has been a liability. Harsh maybe, but its all about opinions.

I do not know what Paul Hayes and Andy Hughes have to do to get a game at the moment.
 
ken shabby (aka spain-addick) said:
Captain B, I've been away up the coast for the last couple of days, though I followed the Oldham game on here, it would'nt let me contribute. Surely your address is 14 Arnos Grove, 'Ring Top bell'!
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My mistake, it appears I have misheard that phrase every time I've watched that episode <doh>

Re the game - grinding out wins is fine by me at this stage of the season. Well done N'Guessan, and CP for getting him in.
 
Just got back to Tewkes and must say I thoroughly enjoyed the game today, although I was bloody freezing in UW.

Damned hard game against a side that tried and failed to out-muscle us, although they played some neat passing football but just didn't have a clue in the last third of the pitch.

I'm bottling MoM today, as I thought N'Guessan, Cort, Pritchard, Kermie and Solly were all tremendous.

N'Guessan looks match fit now and appears to lost a considerable amount of weight since we first saw him, the way he beat the two players out on the wing and sent in the cross that everybody missed was beautiful.

Cort solid today, as Morrison looked a little wobbly at times, a couple of his full-body blocks were very brave indeed.

Pritchard I won't go on about, as you all know my opinion of him - harried and nagged away constantly today, refused to hide when things weren't going right and played some lovely through balls.

How Kermorgant walked off the pitch today, rather than being carried off I have no idea, he was battered from pillar to post today with stuff all protection from that dozy referee and the equally inept lino on the West side.

And on the other side, it has to be said that Stevens was beyond awful today, although he did manage two headers which could have led to concussion, can't think of any other reason he seemed to spend the whole game facing away from the goal we were attacking, he also bottled several tackles today. If he'd put in half the shift that Pritchard did, no a quarter, we would have controlled midfield. And will someone please tell him how naff those boots look...

Jackson looked far from fit and BWP looked far from interested.

Disappointing to see what a dismal little whiner Ledesma is - a lot has been written about this player's influence but if he'd spent more time actually playing rather than appealing today, it might have served Walsall's cause better. When Chris Solly finally dumped him on his a**e, I uncharitably thought "now that's something to whine about".

Good, hard earned three points and a great Easter.

COYR!!
 
Great read Tewkes, and others. Really appreciate people's opinions on games/players over the match reports etc.

What the heck, i'll pop it in here, right now as we speak going through a divorce/seperation i really need my Addicks to win the title and offer up some sort of positivity. I know it's not the personals column here haha, but i know some of you give a toss.


A great effort to get the 6 points over easter given the form of Walsall and previous games against Oldham.

Cheers guys,
 
Hamer 7 - very solid and handled the ball well. As others have said, still worries between him and Morrison (they clattered each other at one point and I was pleasantly surprised that Morrison got straight back up and not a word was said about it from one to the other).

Solly 9 - His usual reliable, tough-tackling self but to an even greater extent. Perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch but I think the ref called it right, it seemed one footed to me and simply the way in which the player fell which made it look worse.

Cort 7 - Worries me at times as I always feel like he's going to make a mistake, but he was solid.

Morrison 7 - solid as always.

Wiggins 8 - got forward very well and put in some great challenges, always seemed to pick up on loose balls.

N'Guessan 7.5 - well taken goal and I'm very appreciative of his recent goalscoring contributions. Found himself in some good space every time he received the ball. Made a few tactical errors (i.e covering Solly after the latter made a challenge rather than going forward to receive a through ball etc)

Pritchard 8 - I'm not his biggest fan as I find he can be a bit naive but he really broke down plenty of their attacks, and put in some great challenges in decent positions.

Stephens 4 - I'm a big Dale Stephens fan, but sadly today he infuriated me, didn't make any effort to tackle or receive a pass, and seemed oblivious to the fact that loose balls were right beside him.

Jackson 6 - An odd balance between some stunning through balls and link up play with Wiggins, and some really piss poor passes and poor control. I feel he isn't yet fully fit and has perhaps been rushed back into the squad.

Wright-Phillips 6 - earlier comments saying he didn't make any effort are way off the mark, he put in plenty of effort but seemed to struggle with the pitch being so wet (as well as having 4 Walsall players behind the ball every time he went for a shot).

Kermorgant 8 - Didn't win as many headers as he normally does, but who can blame him, he soldiered through the game despite clearly having taken about 10 knocks in the first few minutes. Absolute legend.


Referee 6 - not as bad as the past 3 plonkers, but did make some disgraceful decisions (i.e playing advantage for Walsall when one of their players tripped Pritchard straight to the floor etc).


Also a special mention for their lad Ledesma, absolute disgrace. Studded Morrison in the face at one point (which went unpunished) then dived to the ground every time the ball came to him trying to get free kicks and penalties.
 
Oz mate, it's at times like that that your team can carry you on. Sincerely, imagine personal problems in life combined with one of Charltons recent relegation seasons. I know as I've had ups and downs like everyone, and there are times whenyou're in the pits and that voice comes over the radio 'Oldham 0. . . .Charlton Athletic 1' and suddenly, the sun comes out for a moment. All the best mate.
 
Yes, all the best, Oz. <ok>

As you know, Mrs. TA and I divorced last November and sometimes since there's days when you think it's hardly worth bothering getting up - and then you get on not606 and have a good laugh and build up a sense of anticipation for the coming game - and when you win it, brilliant!

Seeing my folks and my brother and sister this weekend and bagging six points makes me appreciate the real foundations of my life and the sheer pleasure of the fickle mistress that is Charlton Athletic.
 
There are times OZ when you are dropping down the leagues that you feel it will never end, suddenly a new view is taken and line is drawn, a new person comes into view (SCP) and the future looks far more positive again :)

Wait for your SCP moment OZ......just wait for your SCP moment...... it will come :D
 
My moot points -

Pritchard MOM. More than once he picked up scraps and turned them in to break-away moves. His energy levels kept us ticking over in the second half.

The back four were solid again. They can hold their own in the Championship next season.

BWP and Jackson are running on empty: the season is taking its toll and it shows badly.

Walsall were worthy opposition. With a bit of investment, I believe they can make an impact next season.

CP more animated than I have ever seen him. I could hear his bum squeaking from the West Upper.
 
I agree with you about Walsall Ponders. Apart from the tension and the discomfort in my trousers, it was actually one of the more compelling games that I've seen at the valley this season. Walsall were very good apart from the odd disgraceful bit of behaviour as noted elsewhere.
 
There was a classic moment when their guy went down in the box whilst we were attacking and the ref blew for the drop-ball.

Some bloke behind me was going mental - BOO! HISS! BOO!FISH! - when the advert came on - BOO! HISS! BOO! FISH! and so on...

I thought it was funny.
 
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