Match Thread Notts County Vs Walsall Fc

[anonypie]

Well, who expected that?  Not me for sure.  I thought after Peterborough and having Mcgregor back, I expected a 3 - 1 win, but I'd have laughed if anyone had said we'd have lost 5-1.

 

I thought Derry's post match interview was great though.  I love how he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he's so honest.  No excuses...it's just not good enough.  I've never heard a manager take the blame before either.

 

The positives?  I bet you it doesn't happen next week.  He talks a lot about 'losing in the right way', and if we lose I bet it won't be down to disorganisation, not picking up your man, or effort.  He simply won't allow it.

 

The notts are staying up!  Down today, but not out.

[MuddyPatchPie]

Terrible defending. Need somebody controlling the midfield and I still think we are missing a commanding centre half. Is it too late now we've got 5 loanees?! Today was embarrassing.

[Canadian]

All we can do now is move on to the next game. 

 

Just a blip in the wheel. I can see a Midfielder being Brought in By the end of this week.

[Fan of Big Tone]

I am absolutely shell shocked, never in a million years would I have said we would lose 5-1 today.

Before the match everything seemed so positive we had a run of 3 wins plus a really good performance at Posh, McGregor and Grealish were back playing together it felt like for once things were going our way and then that happened! I'm lost for words, bad day at the office?

Derry's post match interview was really honest I felt for him. Next we have the small matter of Preston lets hope we get a reaction.

[lambleypie]

Well, who expected that?  Not me for sure.  I thought after Peterborough and having Mcgregor back, I expected a 3 - 1 win, but I'd have laughed if anyone had said we'd have lost 5-1.

 

I thought Derry's post match interview was great though.  I love how he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he's so honest.  No excuses...it's just not good enough.  I've never heard a manager take the blame before either.

 

The positives?  I bet you it doesn't happen next week.  He talks a lot about 'losing in the right way', and if we lose I bet it won't be down to disorganisation, not picking up your man, or effort.  He simply won't allow it.

 

The notts are staying up!  Down today, but not out.

 

I also thought notts would have won, i feel let down by the squad but at least they tried to get into the game. We can move on and Mcgregors goal was a blast.

[GrannyPie]

Really disappointed.I just hope this IS just a blip and we can bounce back against Preston.

[ivansneck]

Our lack of pace at centre back and in central midfield was exposed by a good team playing well, who had the rub of the green a bit in the first half. (not denying they deserved to win by a large margin). I think it will be a blip, what we really need now is for Derry to play himself...

 

By the way did anyone else see the linesman flag a Saddlers player offside direct from a throw-in near their supporters in the second half? 

[Chris]

I think Dean Leacock played well, he covered and got stuck in. Many Smith was a shadow, probably the worst of the back. Sheehan was acceptable but even he didn't have the best of games. Freeman, he did ok going forward but lacked, those who say he's the worst (Facebook) - probably wasn't at the game.

We was ok going forward but due to a lack of shape we struggled.

Positives are few and far between but we move on. COYP!

[cheeky~k8]

We really didn't do very well in defence today. I'm glad everyone who went still had fun, but we need to get back to winning and certainly not letting in that many goals.

A win next time please... no drastic losses.

[weymouthPIE]

Well, here we go again eh? I really thought Derry had ironed this side of our game out. Just when we were really starting to move forwards and gain some real momentum we taken one giant leap backwards, and a pottentially devestating blow today. All five of Walsall's goals, were pathetic from our point of view. The defence was non existant every time, it really was a shambles. I said we were from from being out of the woods and so today proved, losing 5-1 at home is completely unacceptable no matter how high the opposition.

 

This is the sort of result where you could do with a midweek game to get it out of your system quickly, but we now have a weeks break before another difficult trip to Preston North End.

 

Just, dont really know what to say. I'm actually shocked by that today. I truly thought we had ironed these sort of performances out. Nevermind the fact we're still 18th, look at the points and games in hand. If everyone where to win their games in hand we'd be bottom of the table. Chances are we'll return to the bottom four on Tuesday night.

 

17 games left to gain a further 23 points for the magic 50...

[Pies4u]

A game that exposed all our frailties - in every department!

Too many individual poor performances and a collective failure to compete with a sharper, more focused and much livelier Walsall side. Fortunately, they squandered a dozen simple chances, otherwise they could have broken some records! Having said that, we had a bright 20 mins and looked in good shape offensively until they scored. Then it all fell apart.

Lalkovic, Mantom and Sawyers were far too good for us, not to mention the formerly hopeless but quick Brandy who just scored at will, a feat he never managed for us.

Even Bart, who made 2 outstanding saves, was all over the oche most of the time. His distribution was dodgy and his strange walkabouts were mind boggling. For a man who is normally rooted to the goal line I'm not sure what got into him yesterday. What was he doing for the first goal? Where was he for the fourth? Hopeless positioning.

To describe Leacock's woeful display as anything other than awful/abysmal defies belief tbh. One great block aside, which presumably caused the injury that resulted in his flat footed, disinterested and frankly appalling performance, he just didn't compete - at all. If you fail to get close to Westcarr, let him walk round you and don't bother to put a challenge in then I'd suggest it is time to pack it in tbh! Leacock had to be injured to perform so badly, surely?

Smith, Sheehan and McGregor were the only ones who put in a decent shift. Boucaud made a few good passes but is too easily bypassed by opponents. Smith messed up for the first goal, caught flat footed, but that apart gave a steady and combative display. Sheehan is all heart and guts, never gave up. McGregor is a "wonder goal in waiting" every game but his contribution other than that has to be questioned tbh. He disappeared for about an hour.

Freeman was absolutely diabolical! That youth is massively over rated IMO. He is nowhere near a C'ship player and still makes too many basic errors. He spends most of the game out of position, ball watches - look at their 2nd & 3rd goals for classic examples of that, he lacks anticipation and awareness and he was utterly outclassed by Lalkovic all afternoon. He is replica of Dumbuya - sometimes ok going forward but no idea how to defend,a bit of an issue for a full back! Grealish was his usual, inconsistent and raw self. He overdoes it far too often, cuts inside, allows defenders to get back and fails to utilise his undoubted ball skills effectively. The odd bright spell and occasional goal isn't enough in our position. We need someone stronger and more careful with the ball than him, particularly if McGregor and JCR are in the same team! Not a ball winner amongst them.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Showumni is just a joke footballer - why we persist with him, aimlessly ambling around and never being where he should be, over the far more mobile, alert and dangerous Ball remains a mystery of modern times. I won't mention Fotheringham - I didn't notice him, was he playing?

Apart from that, it was great.

[Feral Fox]

Really, really disappointed with that. I resisted the temptation to come on here ranting last night because it would have done no good. After Nearly a day has gone I'm still shocked by the final score, or more correctly what the final score could have been.

We were clueless!

They could and should have been into double figures.

 

They looked sharp and hungry. We didn't. 

They looked fairly compact at the back. we didn't.

They had a formation which allowed for strikers to get forward with support. we didn't.

 

Both Brandy and Westcarr looked like world beaters!

 

Poor showing Notts. let's hope it was a hangover from Tuesday at the Posh and a blip that can be forgotten about.

 

Never mind the footy...where did that bloody weather come from? The Famioly Stand didn't offer alot of protection so we were soaked!

[liampie]

we was bound to have a game like this, am i concerned? no. i dont blame the players as such myself, i dont blame derry but they have to be better.

[super_ram]

Play a team who are at the top of their game when most of your players are collectively having an off day and you get a result like Saturdays,It happened at Leicester a week or so ago when The Rams were hammered.I'm not saying Derby or Notts would win if the games were to be re-played but on another day the performances would be different.Losing while giving a wholehearted,fighting performance gives fans some optimism.

[anonypie]

Yes superram, that's what Derry himself refers to.  Losing in the right way.  Yesterday we didn't we just didn't compete.  Poor Shaun sounded as shell shocked as the fans were in his post match interview.  Just a couple of points, since I wasn't there....firstly, Joe, Smith was the one who got some praise from Colin and Dean..even though he was at fault for one goal, Col thought his performance was solid.  Mick...was Freeman really that bad, or was it because he had two men on him to deal with, and was getting no protection from the midfield?

[Chris]

I noticed Deano often getting in the way/intercepting the ball, he was in position far more than Many Smith.

As a defensive unit, they should be together but noticeably Deano is usually always within the mix. Many Smith is caught repeatedly out of position, which will only lead to errors. He looked a little clumsy to me in our area, it wasn't one of his best games for me.

People are saying Bart had a bad game, this isn't fair because how many shots did he save? The fact the defence was sleeping, means our keeper was called upon far more than he should have been. It's always interesting that fans seemed mixed with the withdrawal of Deano, some blamed him but the majority was baffled and this is what made me check Facebook.

Shaun Derry said in his interview it wasn't performance related, it was because he's been suffering and more a case of being mindful of him becoming injured.

One of the goals shows Deano covering in Many's position, he didn't contribute to our attacks and I don't understand why he wasn't in a central position. After the performances he's put in, he's only going to be prone to mistake but I personally pinpoint this. Just another bad day in the office for the players, they'll have to show the travelling fans that Preston is not going to be allowed through so easily.

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

Don't even know where to start with that performance.


You could see from the first 5 minutes it was going to be a rubbish performance. No fight, no effort. Back to CK days.

Left after the fifth went in. 

[Pies4u]

Yes superram, that's what Derry himself refers to. Losing in the right way. Yesterday we didn't we just didn't compete. Poor Shaun sounded as shell shocked as the fans were in his post match interview. Just a couple of points, since I wasn't there....firstly, Joe, Smith was the one who got some praise from Colin and Dean..even though he was at fault for one goal, Col thought his performance was solid. Mick...was Freeman really that bad, or was it because he had two men on him to deal with, and was getting no protection from the midfield?

Yes, Freeman was poor from start to finish for my money. He had no idea how to cope with Lalkovic and he wanders inside too often leaving acres of space behind him which they frequently exploited. The 2 men to mark argument doesn't wash with me, he can't mark 1 bloke properly, they didn't need 2 on him! He is too prone to ball watch and forgets that there is anyone close to him, usually behind him as it happens. It was their 4th, not 3rd, that he was primarily at fault for - he was supposed to be marking the bloke who scored but he let the ball go over his head and had no idea anyone was on the back post - pretty basic stuff really. I just think he is a massively over rated footballer, he might be ok in a strong Div 1 side, playing with confidence and not being tested every 2 minutes but in our side he is a liability.

He has a bit of pace and some ball skills, but he doesn't apply either effectively IMO. If he ever makes at a higher level I will be amazed. He needs a lot of work and you get the impression he is going backwards not forwards tbh. I said the same about Judge (all energy & ego, no brain) and Ritchie (just not good enough) and neither of them will ever amount to anything much either. Ritchie played against Liverpool, but he looked one of Bumfluff's poorer players, he is far too ineffective against good players to amount to anything.

The sad thing is that there is no one to replace Freeman with, so he'd better improve and show some consistency between now and the end of the season.

Smith had a commanding game bar getting caught cold for the first goal but you also have to fault the keeper for being in no man's land, 15 yards off his line when Brandy poked the ball into an empty net. I really don't understand Joe's assessment at all, Leacock was dreadful apart from that one saving block and Sheehan & Smith worked their nuts off trying to compensate for the captain being AWOL most of the game. I have yet to speak to anyone who has a good word about Leacock's display - it was inept, full stop, but he seems to have been injured according to Derry.

[liampie]

i dont think any of the defenders can say they played all that well, i also agree that manny smith was caught repeatedly out of position. sheehan seemed to put himself about, tho its the defence which let us down.
 

Freeman was poor from start to finish for my money. He had no idea how to cope with Lalkovic and he wanders inside too often leaving acres of space behind him which they frequently exploited

i agree that freeman did not have the best of games but space was being left open by both right and left backs going forward. when they hit us on a break, only three managed to get back and was unable to cope with the walsall players presence. very poor defending!

[super_pie]

Not a good game but i had fun.

[Chris]

i dont think any of the defenders can say they played all that well, i also agree that manny smith was caught repeatedly out of position. sheehan seemed to put himself about, tho its the defence which let us down.

 

i agree that freeman did not have the best of games but space was being left open by both right and left backs going forward. when they hit us on a break, only three managed to get back and was unable to cope with the walsall players presence. very poor defending!

Plus it's suggested Derry might have started with 3 at the back! Horrible tactic which is flawed.

[anonypie]

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself superpie.   That's the main thing.

 

Joe, I'm  not sure we have the right players to play 3 at the back..you really need 3 commanding centre backs, one a left footer, although Sheehan has done fairly well when he plays cb so maybe he would have coped.  Wouldn't you also need them to have pace too, to play it effectively?

 

However, I think it was a decent tactic to try when we were clearly going to lose the game, just to try and create more.  We were going to lose the game anyway.

[liampie]

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself superpie.   That's the main thing.

 

Joe, I'm  not sure we have the right players to play 3 at the back..you really need 3 commanding centre backs, one a left footer, although Sheehan has done fairly well when he plays cb so maybe he would have coped.  Wouldn't you also need them to have pace too, to play it effectively?

 

However, I think it was a decent tactic to try when we were clearly going to lose the game, just to try and create more.  We were going to lose the game anyway.

i think it would have been better to try and give some instructions after their first goal, there was two big warnings before that happened but we was not up for the game. i guess we should dwell to much

[Cobby]

Thankfully my client who is a Walsall fan hasn't rubbed it in my face yet, just a little foot note to one of his e-mails suggesting I'm trying to forget that day.  At least I got to meet up with @notts-joe before the game so it wasn't all bad. McGregor's free kick was also pretty special (even if it took a deflection).

 

Saturday will be a good indication of what Derry is capable of, as I feel he would lose a lot of the favor he has gained from the Notts fans. I have my fingers crossed!

[anonypie]

Reading comments on other forum's it's incredible that ONE game seems to change whether we have a good manager or one totally out of their depth!  OK so no one expected that to happen, but it doesn't mean that's the way things are going to be for the rest of the season.  I'll be massively surprised if we don't compete on Saturday.  I reckon it's just a one off that it's best to put behind us.  Even if it isn't, I get the impression Shaun will be a very quick learner, and will soon get the hang of this managing lark.