Comfortable win against pretty poor opponents. A few shaky moments but we didn't get out of 2nd gear and never needed to. Job well done. Semedo was immense.
Thought Parky got it spot on in his post match interview. Not quite as slick as we have been but he put that down to three games in 8 days. Very plausable. I thought we were comfortable for the most part but I wonder if and when we will really put these mediocre sides to the sword instead of making heavy weather of it.
Must not complain though. 4 on the bounce and top is more than any of us would have predicted. Well done Parky and lads. Big plus for me was Scott Wagstaffs cameo. He looked very capable and confident and took his goal well. Usual suspects of Shelvey, Racon ,Semedo and Bailey looked a class above at Div 1 level and the defence performed very well. Disapointed by crowd today in terms of atmos and numbers.
Very good performance and the sort of game we'll have to win if we want to go up. We could and should have scored more but i'll take that performance all day. Racon again showing that with Semedo there can't be many, if any, better pairings in this league and perhaps even the league above. Burton's workrate is fantastic and our reliance on him and lack of faith in the strikers on the bench is perhaps a worry. Great workrate from the whole team (Shelvey and Burton will be knackered tonight) and i think the defence is improving with every outing. The way we are passing the ball is also much improved on past seasons and i think Parky is due a fair amount of credit for this. A fantastic cameo from Wagstaff and took his goal really well. Llera delivered some fab long field crosses.Best of all is that there is a positive vibe returning to the Valley and long may it continue. Lll&bh.
As I said on other thread. Just got to hold on to the "usual suspects" for the rest of the season. Also special congrats to the defenders (the big man in particular) given they are still getting to know each other!
Walsall had no interest in winning the game - if that is their game plan away from home I'm not surprised there were about 100 of them in attendance.
Very very comfortable. Got the impression that we were playing well within ourselves. After 3 games in 8 days that is fair enough.
Semedo MOM. Ran the show in the centre. First time I have ever though anything other than "he's shite and won't make it" about Wagstaff. Useful cameo and could do wonders for his confidence.
Deon excellent again . If he gets injured we're in trouble imo, because none of the other forwards will work nearly as well with jonjo playing off them. His touch, awareness and strength are quality. Getting in someone else who can hold up the ball as a reserve to burton is vital.
Really pleased for wagstaff, after his confidence was destroyed under pardew.
Comfortable win, Walsall were very forgettable, though they did hit the inside of the post (!), and missed a header from a yard out. Crowd flashed up at 19k + or so, but it was actually around 15k or so. Handy I had Llera 1st scorer at 25-1 and 2-0 at 6-1 (unfortunately not in a double)... However, only put 50p on each
No time for full analysis now; more later BUT Phil Parkinson in my book is officially doing very good. Clean sheet at Tranmere would suit me.
Good day and excellent result, though the criticism of wallsall is a bit harsh. They pressed us up the pitch and forced a few errors and a better attack may have capitalised on these, though they may trouble a few teams. The first goal was a bit off, as a doom mongerer I saw the lino with the flag up early and said it was going to be disallowed but was glad it wasn't, what was his first raised flag for. More than happy as I had a couple of quid along with 1905 on llera scoring the first goal which more than paid for the day out. Shelvey showed some nice little touches, Bailey too, but obviously his left foot is not up to the final ball, semedo and the rest of the midfield a class act, but must make hay while the sun shines as we are on good pitches at the mo and may not be so easy to stroke it around when they get heavy. Eliott untroubled, llera and dailly look a bit slow but good enough for this league and I thought wagstaff looked very threatening when he came on. All round a comfortable victory, but as has been mentioned, a skinny squad, apart from midfield and I guess Bailey could slot in there if an injury with waggy going wide. All in all a good win and top of the league start. Crowd was reasonable with plenty still on hols and a poor away turnout.
[cite]Posted By: Steve Dowman[/cite]Good day and excellent result, though the criticism of wallsall is a bit harsh. They pressed us up the pitch and forced a few errors and a better attack may have capitalised on these, though they may trouble a few teams. The first goal was a bit off, as a doom mongerer I saw the lino with the flag up early and said it was going to be disallowed but was glad it wasn't, what was his first raised flag for. More than happy as I had a couple of quid along with 1905 on llera scoring the first goal which more than paid for the day out. Shelvey showed some nice little touches, Bailey too, but obviously his left foot is not up to the final ball, semedo and the rest of the midfield a class act, but must make hay while the sun shines as we are on good pitches at the mo and may not be so easy to stroke it around when they get heavy. Eliott untroubled, llera and dailly look a bit slow but good enough for this league and I thought wagstaff looked very threatening when he came on. All round a comfortable victory, but as has been mentioned, a skinny squad, apart from midfield and I guess Bailey could slot in there if an injury with waggy going wide. All in all a good win and top of the league start. Crowd was reasonable with plenty still on hols and a poor away turnout.
My initial reaction was that the linesman was going to disallow it. Kept an eye on him and he was clearly signalling that it has crossed the line. He was pointing at the centre circle. The fact that no-one from Walsall complained tells me it must have been pretty clear cut.
[quote][cite]Posted By: cafcpolo[/cite]Jonjo class above? Your joking right? He was by far our worst player today, dreadful! Def agree Semedo MOM.[/quote]
Jonjo dreadful? You're the one having a laugh. He might not have had his best ever game for us today, but dreadful? If that's dreadful, I'd be happy to have him play dreadful all season.
Another win... Good team performance, everyone put a shift in, Charlton passed the ball well and varied the lines of attack and were professional and patient in the way they played and broke a defensive Wallsall down. No one had a poor game and everyone looked comfortable. Good substitution by Parky, I thought we needed a bit of extra pace, and prior to that Sam seemed to be looking for a shot on goal, Wagstaff must be feeling ten fault tall right now. Clean sheet, we were defensively organised.
Negatives Nothing major really, I'm a bit surprised that the crowd was so low, I appreciate that Walsall brought virtually nobody, I suppose holidays and the state of the Test match might have affected numbers. Given our squad size I hope that Gray's departure means that someone comes in this week. Looking at the bench, other than Randolph as the spare keeper we only had Spring and McLeod with decent first team experience, with Solly as our sole defensive cover. The lack of depth could hurt us if/when we have some injuries and suspensions, still the sun is shining and we're winning. Perhaps we could and should have scored a couple more goals given our dominance of the game.
MoM: Nicky Bailey, worked tirelessly and had an assist.
Very comfortable, Walsall one of the worst teams going forward I can remember in recent seasons, never looked close to scoring apart from their disallowed goal.
Semedo had a good game as did Burton, apart from that chance he blasted over.
Thought Shelvey was very average, but only because there are now big expectations for him. Racon and Sam had some good moments and a few poor ones, but decent enough games and I'm sure we can get more out of them especially Racon in the bigger games.
Wagstaff took his goal well, perfect game to put him on in really.
Would have liked to have seen Fleetwood or McLeod in place of Shelvey for 20 minutes or so, give Burton a chance to link up with a striker with pace.
Defence all looked comfortable today, even Youga, again the 3 new defenders all look good at this level and fairly reliable. Good shot from Richardson at the start of the match.
Parkinson is showing he is capable of building a solid, hard working and reliable team at this level, plus we're also playing good football. You can say the midfield weren't his signings, but he's kept them at the club (just hope none of them leave in the next couple of weeks).
first half we played some pretty football and then scored a very scrappy goal. second half walsall gave us loads less time on the ball till they were torn apart for the second goal.
with a better final ball from the widemen we would have probably have scored a couple more.
semedo a class above, mom by a long way for me. Llera and Dailly work well together, both full backs got forward well.
Racon/bailey/shelvey all did well. Although i felt that Shelvey had quite a few periods where the game passed him by, it seemed to me as if he wasn't sure exactly what his role was meant to be in the side. That said he had some good touches and intelligent moves.
burton was immense as well. never stopped running.
Felt at times we were trying too hard to play pretty football, and we struggled a bit when walsall got up in our faces at the start of the second. That said some of the play was very good.
The quality of the opposition was not great, they had their moments in the second half which we coped with, elliot getting in the thick of things to punch clear a couple of times.
Comfortable win against a very poor opposition. Many players like Shelvey weren't on the top of their game today, almost all of them infact. Not suprised though games are coming thick and fast and everyone looked knackered early on.
[cite]Posted By: cafcpolo[/cite]Jonjo class above? Your joking right? He was by far our worst player today, dreadful! Def agree Semedo MOM.
Sam was our worse performer today and that is me being harsh
good sub by parky rebalanced the team excellently when it was needed, no one put in a shit performance it was a job well done with virtual ease bar a 10 min spell where we took it too easily
teams will come to us to get a point and then it will be about us being paitent passing the ball around dealing with the physical side of the game and getting in control and into a lead
good game very easy win never in full gear throughout the match which in my opinion sometimes works against you as the fluidity of our play is not there
if you look hard enough for negatives you can find them but my advice is you should stop looking for them it was a good team performance and a good result
Semedo different gravy,maybe this is the league for him to reallly find his feet.Coz he should really be playing at a higher level but has struggled over the last 2 years.
Comments
Must not complain though. 4 on the bounce and top is more than any of us would have predicted. Well done Parky and lads. Big plus for me was Scott Wagstaffs cameo. He looked very capable and confident and took his goal well. Usual suspects of Shelvey, Racon ,Semedo and Bailey looked a class above at Div 1 level and the defence performed very well. Disapointed by crowd today in terms of atmos and numbers.
Long way to go but another happy weekend.
Very very comfortable. Got the impression that we were playing well within ourselves. After 3 games in 8 days that is fair enough.
Semedo MOM. Ran the show in the centre. First time I have ever though anything other than "he's shite and won't make it" about Wagstaff. Useful cameo and could do wonders for his confidence.
Really pleased for wagstaff, after his confidence was destroyed under pardew.
What a great first choice midfield we've got.
No time for full analysis now; more later BUT Phil Parkinson in my book is officially doing very good. Clean sheet at Tranmere would suit me.
My initial reaction was that the linesman was going to disallow it. Kept an eye on him and he was clearly signalling that it has crossed the line. He was pointing at the centre circle. The fact that no-one from Walsall complained tells me it must have been pretty clear cut.
Ermmmm................No not joking
Jonjo dreadful? You're the one having a laugh. He might not have had his best ever game for us today, but dreadful? If that's dreadful, I'd be happy to have him play dreadful all season.
Another win...
Good team performance, everyone put a shift in, Charlton passed the ball well and varied the lines of attack and were professional and patient in the way they played and broke a defensive Wallsall down.
No one had a poor game and everyone looked comfortable.
Good substitution by Parky, I thought we needed a bit of extra pace, and prior to that Sam seemed to be looking for a shot on goal, Wagstaff must be feeling ten fault tall right now.
Clean sheet, we were defensively organised.
Negatives
Nothing major really, I'm a bit surprised that the crowd was so low, I appreciate that Walsall brought virtually nobody, I suppose holidays and the state of the Test match might have affected numbers.
Given our squad size I hope that Gray's departure means that someone comes in this week. Looking at the bench, other than Randolph as the spare keeper we only had Spring and McLeod with decent first team experience, with Solly as our sole defensive cover. The lack of depth could hurt us if/when we have some injuries and suspensions, still the sun is shining and we're winning.
Perhaps we could and should have scored a couple more goals given our dominance of the game.
MoM: Nicky Bailey, worked tirelessly and had an assist.
Semedo had a good game as did Burton, apart from that chance he blasted over.
Thought Shelvey was very average, but only because there are now big expectations for him. Racon and Sam had some good moments and a few poor ones, but decent enough games and I'm sure we can get more out of them especially Racon in the bigger games.
Wagstaff took his goal well, perfect game to put him on in really.
Would have liked to have seen Fleetwood or McLeod in place of Shelvey for 20 minutes or so, give Burton a chance to link up with a striker with pace.
Defence all looked comfortable today, even Youga, again the 3 new defenders all look good at this level and fairly reliable. Good shot from Richardson at the start of the match.
Parkinson is showing he is capable of building a solid, hard working and reliable team at this level, plus we're also playing good football. You can say the midfield weren't his signings, but he's kept them at the club (just hope none of them leave in the next couple of weeks).
Looking around the ground and the plethora of empty seats, I reckon it was more like 13,000.
I'm sure he saw AFKA'S comment that he was the only player not to have had a shot on target in the first 3 games!
Apparently, it was flashed up on the big screen at the ground as 19,980
first half we played some pretty football and then scored a very scrappy goal. second half walsall gave us loads less time on the ball till they were torn apart for the second goal.
with a better final ball from the widemen we would have probably have scored a couple more.
semedo a class above, mom by a long way for me. Llera and Dailly work well together, both full backs got forward well.
Racon/bailey/shelvey all did well. Although i felt that Shelvey had quite a few periods where the game passed him by, it seemed to me as if he wasn't sure exactly what his role was meant to be in the side. That said he had some good touches and intelligent moves.
burton was immense as well. never stopped running.
Felt at times we were trying too hard to play pretty football, and we struggled a bit when walsall got up in our faces at the start of the second. That said some of the play was very good.
The quality of the opposition was not great, they had their moments in the second half which we coped with, elliot getting in the thick of things to punch clear a couple of times.
Semedo was MOTM for me, solid.
Boring game though, friendly feel about it
Sam was our worse performer today and that is me being harsh
good sub by parky rebalanced the team excellently when it was needed, no one put in a shit performance it was a job well done with virtual ease bar a 10 min spell where we took it too easily
teams will come to us to get a point and then it will be about us being paitent passing the ball around dealing with the physical side of the game and getting in control and into a lead
good game very easy win never in full gear throughout the match which in my opinion sometimes works against you as the fluidity of our play is not there
if you look hard enough for negatives you can find them but my advice is you should stop looking for them it was a good team performance and a good result
Semedo worked so hard, broke things up and rarely gave up possession. Llera won everything in the air and played some wonderful long passes.
Good to see Wagstaff do well after coming on too.
semedo was superb. Rock solid and strong as an ox
shelvey looked a bit jaded which is to be expected after 3 games in a week
burton put in a shift but also looks knackered
Waggy has deffo given us a nudge that he's around - I've got high hopes for him and this would do his confidence wonders
ps - thanks Llera for 2.50 @ 25/1!! (last of the big spenders me!!)
Is it just me or does Racon seem to visibly tire in the second half of games. First half he was running the show - second half I barely noticed him!