Date: Saturday, 20th August 2016 Kick Off: 3:00pm Venue: Bescot Stadium After what seems an eternity we have finally seen a convincing home win and our first three points of the 2016/2017 campaign. The win against Shrewsbury has seen us propel up the league one table to eight place. The standouts for me during the game against Shrewsbury was Ricky Holmes who scored two great solo goals and Ezri Konsa who the 18 year old appeared very comfortable in defence. On the three points manager Russell Slade remarked that “I’m very pleased for the staff, the players and, more importantly, the fans that we’ve gone and got a positive result [...Shrewsbury game] The clean sheet pleases me massively and I’m pleased with that and I’m pleased for everybody.” His attention now moves to the Walsall game, which we hope that the momentum and performance from Tuesday night will continue, though Slade is already erring on the side of caution commenting that “it’s relentless in this league and it will be no easy task at Walsall, that’s for sure.” One thing that he will have his work cut out for him is helping Ajose finding his goal scoring record of last season. The prolific striker has yet to find the net in a competitive game for us, but I do not think it'll take too long before he does. The Opposition With three games into the season and manager Jon Whitney must have experienced the full range of emotions with an opening day win, followed by a draw and a 2 - 0 loss to Chesterfield on Tuesday after succumbing to two quick fire goals from Ched Evans. Jon Whitney told the press that they'll "focus on the positives from the game [... Chesterfield]" with their seasons record signing Andreas Makris hitting the post twice during the match. He is expecting to see his squad bolstered for the Charlton match with the return of Adam Chambers and Erhun Oztumer, both recovered from injuries and Isaiah Osbourne who was rested for the Chesterfield match. Former Addick Franck Moussa is currently at Walsall, and would be relishing a chance to score against us. Current Form **will be included after six home/away matches Head-to-Head Record Whilst our overall record against Walsall is higher, we have struggled to beat them away from The Valley, especially during the three season we spent in League One scoring two goals. It seems they are a team that up the ante against the bigger clubs in League One. Our last game at the Bescot Stadium, during our promotion campaign, ended 1 - 1 with Yann Kermorgant scoring the equaliser. Club Updates Club announced today that fan favourite Zachariah Birdshit has had his contract terminated, and has failed to report back to the club for training after last season. Team Lineup A key to getting good results will be consistency in your first team selection and give the our first win to the season, I expect Slade to keep his starting lineup, although it would be nice to see Lookman start: Odds The bookies appear to be showing Walsall as favourites to win this match, however given that two out of the last three matches at Bescot Stadium have ended as 1 - 1 draw the £3.30 return for every £1 stake is too tasty to ignore, or at the very least a bet on both teams to score. Game 04 Fixtures Outcome Whilst we have the momentum from Tuesday nights win, I think that we won't be carrying on our winning streak. We have struggled at Bescot Stadium with a team with better players than we currently have. With walsall will be looking to bounce back after their defeat, in addition to losing out last season in the playoffs, their sure to want to show us that they are a worth team in the Championship, a draw should be considered a good result for Slade's men. #COYA #RolandOut #MeireOut
A chest infection has sadly ruled me out of this trip. That said, I'm somewhat positive we will come back with a point minimum. I know little of Walsall other than they are often praised for their short, passing style. Question marks remain on the middle of the park for us, but if we're able to keep the CM'S in the game and not chasing shadows then I'd fancy us to get a goal. Hoping Ajose breaks his duck. 1-2 Pearce and ajose
Hope that you feel better @SuperChrissyisfantasticPardswasatrocious. I'm still going on my 1 - 1 prediction, and have stuck a £10 on it. Also done 1 - 1 and Holmes to score first.
Doubts over Holmes apparently - which 1) could change my prediction, and 2) shows our over reliance on him as things stand
I will be at Walsall tomorrow Will Tweet some pics during the game, and a video of Kevin Foley's first pass forwards in a Charlton shirt.
Best bet seems to be the HT/FT bet so .... Charlton/Draw is 14/1 at Corals and Willy Hill's BTTS - Yes is 5/6 at Corals and best price on 1-1 is 11/2 at Willy's or 2-2 is 16's at Willy's Anytime goalscorer, I would go for Simeon Jackson (he always scores against us) at 13/8 (Corals) My choices are in bold
Ah Walsall.... I remember seeing us play these guys at the Valley, when I used to go with my dad as a nipper back in the seventies. We were 4-1 up by half time, and being young, I assumed we'd plow on and get four more. Unfortunately , teams I support don't usuallydo that and we ended up with a good yet unsatisfying 4-2 win. After tuesday, the expectations are a bit higher, but I certainly would'nt go so far as a win away just yet. Still, imagine if we won two on the trot! Bexleyboy will be predicting a Champions league appearance next year!!
Powell's 101 point promotion side would have comfortably won this fixture today, so a good test of where we are at. 5/10 start to the season so far
We did draw it. Won at the Valley. Our recent record had been poor against Walsall away, two 1-1 draws and a 2-0 loss
Sounded like a good game - glad the travelling fans were rewarded, and let's hope this is the start for Ajose. Sounds like two poacher efforts - brilliant
