Saddlers Social: Walsall fans have their say

Ian Newbold

Saturday was a good entertaining game of football, we’ve not had enough of them at home this season. It’s the best I’ve seen us play without winning, and I found myself in agreement with the manager for once.

That was very near our best starting XI and I also agreed with his post match thoughts that we defended slackly in the first half. And after all, it was only a home draw. Let’s not get carried away.

We seemed to switch off a few times, which we paid for. May have been in part down to a rookie keeper coming in from the cold - ironically because of Roberts’ cold - and not having the instant confidence to bellow demands to his defence.

Now Mr Clarke, as you do so often demand consistency, can we ask for a little more from you in team selection? See what happens if you keep to a similar starting XI for our next match, project Stevenage? No shoehorning your namesake back in somewhere for the sake of it.

Nick Etheridge

I've always backed Darrell Clarke, even when we were on that awful run in October. If we could have picked up another three or four points then we would have been right in the mix for the play-offs, especially given our form in the last 17 games sees us among the top seven. The last few games though have made me look forward to next season rather than dwell on what could have been.

The main thing that gives me confidence going forward is the individual performance of players. As opposed to the previous two regimes under Jon Whitney and Dean Keates, the majority of our players have improved over the course of the season. The likes of Liam Roberts, Amadou Bakayoko and Morgan Ferrier all regressed over time. If you look at our squad now, Rory Holden has gradually improved and becoming a bit of a key player, the decision making of Wes McDonald means he no longer a one trick pony (what a trick though) and Josh Gordon is now taking chances that he would have missed last season.

The key to maintaining the performances over the last couple of games is to take off the handbrake. The back four looked so much more settled when they had two midfielders in front of them for protection, rather than give us some attacking impetus. Creativity has been a problem all season, but having defensive minded players trying to step into that role clearly wasn't working. The shift to 4-2-3-1 means that whoever plays there can concentrate on what they are all very good at, winning the ball and giving it to the match winners.

The fluid front four of Holden, Gordon, McDonald and Elijah Adebayo gives us a good balance between being solid at the back, but having enough attacking talent to take the game to the opposition. It also gives us the option to play 4-4-2 away from home and interchange between the two formations during the game as and when the manager sees fit. The important thing now is to beat the teams below us and finish as high up the table as possible, starting on Saturday. Watch us go to three at the back at Stevenage now!

Rob Harvey

Saturday’s game against Port Vale was great, and it’s what we all want to see. A 90 minute effort from all of the players, and for us to be entertained for the duration. It was good to see Darrell Clarke pick a team for us instead of for the opposition we were facing, and it proved we do have the makings of a good team. Personally I felt that we were the better team, and considering they are in and around the play-offs I feel that next season could be a good season for us.

As I’ve touched upon, it was a great team performance, but a special shout out for Rory Holden (who seems to have found a level of consistency now) and again for Elijah Adebayo who finally got the goal his last two performances have deserved.

If you’re reading this Elijah I’d like to apologise for ever doubting you and if you can continue to put in performances like the last two you’ve given, I have no doubt that you could become a massive fan favourite.

Looking forward now I felt that we really needed to win against Vale to keep our season alive but never say never I guess. Every game is a must win if we want to try and gatecrash anywhere near the play-offs but regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season it does finally seem like we are progressing positively on the pitch and have a mostly settled best eleven.

Onwards and upwards, UTS!

Jon Taylor

Two Saturdays and two fantastic games of football at the Banks's and potentially show what a season we could have had taking points from two promotion chasing teams. Our issue this season hasn’t been performing against the top sides it’s been our abject performances against the teams below us and if results would have gone differently, how different our season could have been. If this is a glimpse into how we could play next season we could be in for an exciting season.

Focusing on Saturday, Elijah Adebayo followed up an impressive game last week with a goal and assist and worked well up top with Josh Gordon. There were a couple of times they went for the same ball but are working on there partnership. Danny Guthrie, Rory Holden and Liam Kinsella get honourable mentions for there performance in midfield.

Again, defensive frailties were there to see. Shay Facey either forgot to track Leon Legge or didn’t know he was there as he was strolling back and we were too slow to close down for the deflected second.

Let’s hope the progress we have seen in the last couple of weeks continues and we get a result against Stevenage, a team we should comfortably be beating.

Chris Saunders

Things really feel like they are starting to click and the summer transfer window feels like it will be more tweaks than large scale changes if the team keep turning in performances like that.

If Elijah Adebayo keeps the last two performances up he is a guaranteed starter and that gives us three very good forwards to pick from.

The defence was a bit shaky again but it is something which can be largely worked on at the training ground rather than needing wholesale changes in the summer to sort things out.

What I will say however is how good did it feel Saturday to have an attacking performance that kept getting people off their seats?! It’s the first time in a while I’ve seen that from a Walsall team at home.

James Kenealey

The last two matches have been some of the most fun I’ve had at the Bescot in about three years. Admittedly this isn’t a terribly high bar to reach given the state of things during that time but still, it’s been enough to reinvigorate my waning, battered enthusiasm.

There’s been a running joke with the guys I stand with in the Homeserve lower tier that we’ve seemed to be incapable of scoring at our end this season, but in the last seven days we’ve been treated to five.

There was a real strength of character and persistence in that team to earn four points when in October those games would have yielded none. The Vale game felt like a proper derby too.

I’m singling out Elijah Adebayo for praise again, not just for being in the right place at the right time for the first equaliser but also his general application. He looked a menace again and I hope he continues to prove me wrong. Another player who has weathered a lot of criticism from me this season has been Rory Holden, and I thought he was also excellent across both games. We were playing some lovely, assured, confident football going forwards last weekend and long may it continue.

We just outplayed two play-off chasing teams and came from behind in both. We’re too far behind for any late play-off challenge ourselves but it’s certainly nice that we finally seem to be on the right track… Can’t wait to lose away at hopeless Stevenage now!

Stuart Cox

A thoroughly entertaining match on Saturday which I felt we were unlucky not to win.

We didn’t deserve to be losing at HT and we did enough to win the game with a great second half performance. So many times this season we have complained about desire, attacking threat etc so it was really pleasing to see us really going for it.

Special mentions where due – Elijah Adebayo and Rory Holden. Adebayo’s last two performances have shown us that he has got the ability in there somewhere. He was a nuisance to them all game and showed glimpses of his skill too. He needs to believe himself a bit more and put in shifts like that every week.

I was one of Rory Holden’s critics earlier on this season but he has come such a long way. He’s still a little lightweight for me but, in the Number 10 role, he has shown how influential he can be during a game. Josh Gordon too ran himself into the ground and deserved his goal.

The only thing for me that he needs to cut out are the silly little fouls that he often gives away when challenging for the ball, although his general ‘snapping at the heels’ nuisance factor comes with that risk I suppose.

The two goals we conceded were poor defensively though. If DC is still trying to play zonal marking then it clearly doesn’t work as their first goal was a completely free header at the back post. The second goal should have been closed down much quicker than it was as he was given far too much time to shoot.

I also thought Jack Rose did pretty well in goal in tricky conditions and his all-round distribution was better than Liam Roberts. I think DC is starting to see what his strongest side is and I hope he sticks with it and cuts down on the ‘tinkering’.

With eyes on next season he needs to have a clear idea of who he wants, who he doesn’t want and who he needs and persuade Leigh Pomlett to part with more money than we currently offer to put together a team capable of challenging.

Robert Dearn

In our last four games, we have played teams above or around us. We have had four positive results and I for one, would have taken eight points from the four games.

However Saturday is a big test. We all know Walsall struggle against teams below them in the league, the lower they are, the more vulnerable they are. Stevenage are the EFL's worst form team in the country, which makes us huge favourites.

The lads have to get there, go out and be on the front foot, and prove that they can win the games that then should be winning, for a change. Here's hoping for another well attended away day, and three points for the journey home.

Jack Talbot

What an entertaining game of football that was on Saturday which we should of taken all three points for. I am still not quite sure how Port Vale’s goalkeeper managed to keep out Elijah Adebayo’s effort.

I would like to mention about Rory Holden. How much has this player improved? We have a completely different player since the turn of the year. He dribbles past players with confidence and I believe he plays best when in the middle of the pitch. Let’s hope we can do some kind of deal to keep him here for next season.

Onto Saturday now and it’s a very winnable game, away against bottom of the league side Stevenage. This is a game we should 100 per cent be winning but we have struggled against the lower half of the table teams this season. Let’s hope for a win so we can push further up the table.