Walsall were lucky

[AlexLeicester]

The single point from last night was, at the very least, a disappointment. The Alex did enough in the first hour to have had the game wrapped up, but, again, our finishing let us down.

There were several positives: the most obvious was the energy, enthusiasm and skill of Inman as he terrorised the defence with some surging runs. If he'd taken on the last man instead of looking for the pass then maybe he would be a super hero today. He also stayed on the pitch, which is something Walsall were clearly committed to avoiding with their petty fouls, nudges, and a blatant push from their big defender who must have run about 20 yards to do so!
Ben Garratt's phenomenal injury-time save saved the point, but he did make a mistake earlier when coming out for a curling cross that left him in non-man's land. Nobody's perfect, especially at his age.

Others, much better then me, can do the match report or whatever, but I was just happy to be with so many Alex fans, in such a confined space. Pity th

[RenegadeDS]

Let's not forget we dodged a rather large bullet when Ngoo fluffed an easy goal by hitting the post for Walsall, and Ben making save of the season in injury time.

[cesspitt]

In previous visits to Walsall I recall that we were always behind the goal...

Just wondering if they tucked us up in part of the home end last night in some sort of "gamesmanship"

[MikeSB]

It was always likely that one goal was not enough and so wonder why SD didn't bring on someone who was a PROVEN goal scorer ..eg Usche?

Its no good bringing him on for the last ten minutes though. Far too late again Steve for doing the subs anyway. Will he ever learn? ;)

[RenegadeDS]

It was always likely that one goal was not enough and so wonder why SD didn't bring on someone who was a PROVEN goal scorer ..eg Usche?

Its no good bringing him on for the last ten minutes though. Far too late again Steve for doing the subs anyway. Will he ever learn? ;)

With one minute to go, it looked likely that the one goal would be enough.

I honestly can't see a lot that Steve did wrong last night, with the exception of Cameron Park again playing on the right and disrupting both Pogba and Tootle's positioning. I thought his substitutions were correct (don't forget, Oliver scored a belter in his last game, and Uche played for the U21's on Monday night) and he set us up well to stop Walsall playing football.

I can't help but feel that it was one of those situations you can't legislate for - that we were just woefully unlucky.

[whosbrianwilson]

I thought Steve had his subs spot on last night.

Pogs was tiring and Park had faded out of the game. Vadaine was the obvious choice after his Swindon appearance and Byron a straight swop for Park. Presumably Kelvin came on to give more height against their beanpole sub.

On another day Ellis's header would have gone out for a corner and we would all have congratulating a well earned 3 points.

[itwasin]

Walsall will say they were Unlucky not to win it in the last 2 Min,its no use blaming bad luck all the time! been waiting for the Alex to score in the dying seconds for ages and now when they do it its in the wrong Net! bad luck I expect! or another Calamity.

[whosbrianwilson]

Walsall will say they were Unlucky not to win it in the last 2 Min,its no use blaming bad luck all the time! been waiting for the Alex to score in the dying seconds for ages and now when they do it its in the wrong Net! bad luck I expect! or another Calamity.

Thought you would have been watching the toilet makers?

[AlexLeicester]

I thought Steve had his subs spot on last night.

Pogs was tiring and Park had faded out of the game. Vadaine was the obvious choice after his Swindon appearance and Byron a straight swop for Park. Presumably Kelvin came on to give more height against their beanpole sub.

On another day Ellis's header would have gone out for a corner and we would all have congratulating a well earned 3 points.

Could not agree more. Hind sight is a wonderful thing!
Inman must have been shattered: not just the pushes, shoves, bumps and bruises he was getting, but the amount of energy he must have used up.

[MikeSB]

I didn't know about Usche playing the day before if that was the Monday you were referring to?

If so, why was he on the bench?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but not when the odds were that one goal was never going to be enough and it really was no surprise when they did and oddly could have won it in the last few minutes. That is why it was pointless bringing on Moore who rarely knows where the net is and having someone who scored two when he was last on for a decent spell. It seemed a no brainer to me that he should have come on and a big feller as well which would have helped.

Yes, we could have won it but as said it needn't have been so close as the right subs be made. Sorry and its all opinions but I don't think SD has made the right subs in most games and certainly is in the Dario mode by leaving them far too late.

So why was Usche playing the day before if that was the day? I don't know why we signed him if we don't give him games or time on the pitch and they all sang his

[RenegadeDS]

Mike - for one, Uche just hasn't been fit. His game for the U21's on Monday was an attempt to get him up to speed, and he scored a penalty early in the first half. He still hasn't been able to manage a decent length on the pitch thanks to his current fitness issues. He's on the bench as an emergency, we just don't have anyone else even half fit.

At the time the substitutions were made, Walsall didn't look like scoring. Inman was tiring, Park was drifting out of the game, and Pogba was starting to tire too. We were getting the better of their full backs so Moore came on with fresh legs to run at them, Mellor came on to add much needed height against the aeriel threat of Ngoo, and Oliver came on for Pogba as a direct replacement. What other options did we have than Moore? If you bring Uche on you can't bring Oliver on too as then you're left with nothing in the wide positions. Pogba had to go off so moving him out wide wasn't an option. The only other thing would be Uche for Pogba and l

[MikeSB]

Hi Renegade, cheers for that appraisal which seems a fair one and probably the reasons SD made them as well. When NB retires, you may want to apply? ;)

I was listening to the match and so the ones that did go including the management would get a better overall view and when MaGarry screamed that Walsall has scored in the last minute, I thought, ******, not again!

At home now three games out of four and so am still optimistic we can do it..Oldham is a big big game.

[MikeSB]

Just to add that I was thinking of a direct swap of Usche for Pogba as we were still creating chances from Inmann and then Moore when he did come on and even a half fit Usche may have been a better bet around the penalty area?

Pogba is also struggling to do the 90 mins so one for one.

[itwasin]

Walsall will say they were Unlucky not to win it in the last 2 Min,its no use blaming bad luck all the time! been waiting for the Alex to score in the dying seconds for ages and now when they do it its in the wrong Net! bad luck I expect! or another Calamity.

Thought you would have been watching the toilet makers?[/quote] - view external link (No Brain Wilson more like)

[lukcour]

Personally I do not think Walsall were lucky. To me once again SD got his tactics completely wrong. We were head and shoulders dominating the game and deservedly went into the lead with a fine goal. Perfect time to press on the pedal and go on to win the game by at least a couple of goals.

Instead we go into our shell and let Walsall into a game they are not in at any time. Dire tactics by our manager. But this is nothing new. All season he has adopted negative tactics, and given other teams far too much respect. With that and quite often unbelievable team selection, and dodgy late subs no wonder we are in the relegation zone.

IMO SD has been overawed and grossly over estimated teams in league1.

If we are going to get out of this situation it is time for the team to do what they are best at. That is take the bull by the horns, impose ourselves on the opposition and attack.

Enough of these silly negative tactics