Swindon Town v Walsall Official Matchday Thread

[Batch]

Well that was proper shit.

Think Coops dropped a bollock today by playing 3 at the back. Actually, its worked exceedingly well in recent weeks but it was clear pretty early on that they were stretching us far too much at the back, getting the ball wide into the gaps. Should have gone to a flat back 4, thought there is no guarantee this was the answer I suppose.

Fact is Walsall were better than us. They denied us space, which meant a frustrating rather than a fruitful passing Town game. Walsall themselves were playing the ball on the deck, but played with a better pace when breaking and were more incisive.

Although we deserved to lose, and by a bigger margin, two of the goals they scored were very disappointing. The first came from a corner. They took the corner and literally had two men in the box unmarked (shot blocked) and three on the edge of the box (ball smashed in). Fuck knows what the defence and midfield were doing.

The second disappointing goal was gifted them by Ward.

I think also it was a collective off night I think performance can be put into these categories:

Good: Wes.
OK: Ranger
Poor: McCeverly, Ajose
Dogshit: Kassim, Luongo. Pritchard (for 80 minutes), Byrne,
Utter dogshit: Hall, Ward,
Presumably an imposter lookalike from the crowd: Thompson.

Take nothing away from Walsall though, they were excellent.

Still its only one game. As Kipling said:

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
  And treat those two impostors just the same;
....

today was a disaster, but it has not baring on tomorrow.

[woolster]

What's happening tomorrow batch

[suttonred]

Cheers Batch

[Batch]

Whatever the score, I doubt it will be dour.

This is just one example of tempting fete. STOP,. THINK. DON'T TEMPT FETE

[ronnie21]

What planet was Ward on tonight?  Not in tune at all, oh well different formation on Saturday as J Mac is suspended, will be a 4-4-2 I guess.

[Batch]

What's happening tomorrow batch

Nothing that today had any relevance to.

You knew what I meant.

[LucienSanchez]

Nnnggghhh, I don't know what was more annoying, our performance or the reactions of our 'support' at times.

It was a poor one, Walsall looked sharp, strong, fast, and gave eachother options on the ball whilst depriving us of any. Lots of below par performances on our side. I wouldn't have started Ajose instead of N'Guessan, but it made little difference really. We didn't move into space, didn't press, and too often gave in to crowd groans, resorting to hopeless long balls that we are not well versed in. And Ward was awful. But we'd have lost without his gaffes, so again, had little bearing on the result.

Also, it's surprising how many seasoned viewers know less of the offside rule than the linesmen they insist on insulting in a rabid rage.

I really didn't enjoy tonight.

[Nemo]

This is just one example of tempting fete. STOP,. THINK. DON'T TEMPT FETE

Or the Tombola of life will come and bite you in the backside.

[nigel grays a postie]

We never seem to do well v Walsall at home and fair play to them their game plan worked brilliantly. God knows what Ward was playing at in defence tonight. Wes saved us from a hiding but Mason, and Ranger had channces which if they had gone in would have put Walsall under a bit more pressure. Had it not been for wonder save by their keeper the 5 minutes of injury time might have been a bit more interesting too. Worrying that so many seemed below par - particularly Luongo and Kasim. Reality check all round.

[woolster]

 author=Batch link=topic=52777.msg1232499#msg1232499 date=1382477484]
Nothing that today had any relevance to.

You knew what I meant.
[/quote]
 

[chalkies_shorts]

1-3 flattered us. Walsall had done their homework. Sussed out the 3-5-2 and got runners in behind Thompson and Byrne, both of whom were absolute shit. Ward was even worse and Hall was slightly better but still shit. McAveley was the pick of the defence and that's not saying much. Their no 7 owned the midfield. Kasim was shit and needed a change of boots. Pritchard was useless. The worst midfielder by a mile though was Luongo who broke up so many of our attacks. Ajose was shit. ranger was decent. Fods was MOM by a mile.
We were bettered in every single department.
Still one defeat in 5 isn't bad and I'll take that going forward.
Walsall looked a really good team who employed good tactics, kept their shape and were sharper all over the pitch. I can hardly recall one tackle by a Town player other than McEveley going for the neck of one of theirs and Hall going wastehigh.  

[welshred]

Think Watd has been eating too many yams.

[Swindon Please Win]

First thing, Walsall were easily the best team here this season, worked as a team, pressed in bunches and didn't let us move further than 5 yards outside our box. If Ranger had scored his free header from 6 yards out earlier on in the second half it might have been different but saying that they had plenty of chances to make it 4 or 5-0, Wes was the best player but even still with 5 minutes to go, to keep doing those short goal kicks which is what Walsall wanted us to just but us under pressure and was eventually lumped up anyway, im a fan of the possession play but sometimes you need to do something different. Frustrating game which was just as bad as Shrewsbury away.

[chalkies_shorts]

Even at 3-1 down we kept so many players behind the ball.

[BruceChatwin]

Every once in a while a game comes along where every Swindon player looks like they've come out of the tunnel in a catatonic stupor.

I don't want to take anything away from Walsall though. Fully deserved the win and should have won by more. Tactically the best team we've played this season by a distance. Cooper needs to look at that performance and try to replicate those tactics away from home.

For us, no-one except Wes and Ranger came out with very much credit. Hall, Ward and Thompson were atrocious but had no protection from the midfield. Kasim was not the messiah, he was a very naughty boy.