Walsall blog: Draw no disaster

I think it’s fair to say that nobody quite knows what to make of the 0-0 draw with Luton, writes Walsall blogger Mark Jones.

Personally I think we could have taken the three points on offer but a draw was not a disaster. It was the kind of scrappy game we may well have lost in September and we’d certainly have thrown away in the dark days of Spring 2006.

I also think that there was more going on in the match than the scoreline suggests at first glance. There were the negative, spoiling tactics of our opponents themselves, very un-Luton like. 

There was Don ‘I used to play in the Premiership, me’ Hutchinson making himself look a right spoilt brat with his constant moaning and whinging.

There was a referee who seemed to be officiating in a parallel universe.   

Then there were the host of chances we created ourselves, notably the Mikey Ricketts ‘no, you’re not offside’ header and Ish’s Steve Harmison-style wide effort.

However the most encouraging event on Saturday for me was the half decent atmosphere that emanated from the Lower Gilbert.

Far too often at Bescot the noise is only there when we’re attacking our home end or if it’s a ‘big’ game. This is partly due to the design of the stadium and the fact that we seem to be spread out a lot more than ever before. But, from my linesman-baiting seat in the Family Stand, there was a noticeably increased amount of singing throughout the game.

Central to this is the part played by the latest cult (hope the spellcheck’s got that right) hero amongst Saddlers fans. On Youtube he’s known as Dancing Saddler, on one message board it’s something less complimentary and apparently there is a Facebook page devoted to ‘Dancin Kev’.

Whatever you know him as, it can’t be denied that the kid in question has the effect of putting a smile on the face of everyone who has seen his shirt-twirling, steward-worrying, freeform expressions of movement. As long as he’s happy, he’s harmless enough and if he helps get the crowd going, then why not? 

Now if we could just get Sumo out of retirement . . .

Agree with Mark? Post your thoughts below.