Saddlers Social: A good point – but fans want to turn draws into wins

Ian Newbold

Mild disappointment at five points from three home games, despite going eleven games unbeaten, shows how far this team has moved on. A solid performance, well matched by Exeter, a point gained, more than two dropped, like last Saturday against Colchester.

We got away with what seems to becoming a mandatory defensive foul-up this time. The

Grecians thankfully failed to take advantage of Liam Roberts’ slip in the last five minutes. That would have been very cruel on the Saddlers, but we really need to cut those mistakes out.

I’d have one other mild criticism this week, and that’s of our midfield selections. I like all four of our senior options. Liam Kinsella, Alfie Bates, Danny Guthrie and Stuart Sinclair. But we started – and finished – with the wrong pairings. Kins and the Viking shouldn’t play together, and likewise neither should The General and the Van man. Any other combination is fine, cover and creativity.

Stuart Cox

A hard fought game between two fair evenly matched sides ended with what should be seen as a pleasing point gained.

From the comfort of my own front room (along with a steak and ale pie for that added match day feeling) it looked like we will be a hard team to beat this season. Special praise to George Nurse who I thought was outstanding and looked so comfortable with and without the ball.

The iFollow service for me is working well although it is no comparison with actually being there and supporting your team. I feel really sorry for the people at the club too who spent so long making preparations for a return only to be told it wasn’t going to happen.

For me, the plans, including the social distancing of fans inside and outside the stadium were spot on and wouldn’t be any higher risk than some of activities that are still permitted.

If non-league clubs are allowing fans back in, it makes no sense that a carefully thought out plan for a League Two club can’t be put into place. I hope the financial package is sorted soon as I fear we will be losing quite a few clubs at the end of this season.

Finally, Josh Gordon will be a big miss over the next couple of months. He was beginning to form a really solid partnership with Elijah Adebayo and he continued to work so hard for the team. Hopefully he will recover quickly and be back in the side before the end of 2020.

Rob Harvey

Two games since the last Social. Both at home against Leyton Orient and Exeter.

Four points returned from two games isn’t a bad return, although we made it much harder for ourselves than we actually needed to against Leyton Orient with us gifting a goal to them and missing a penalty.

The Exeter game appeared to be two good League Two teams that cancelled each other out and perhaps saw each other as a good point to take. It was a bit of a boring game to watch but it’s another point on the board and another game without tasting defeat which hopefully breeds confidence further within the squad.

I did feel that the game on Saturday was the first one where if we conceded first we wouldn’t be able to come back from it.

On the squad it was disappointing to hear that Josh Gordon will be out until at least December with his injury as he is a very good player for us, but also because it then means we are heavily relying on Elijah Adebayo and Caolan Lavery to not get injured too. We’ve managed to bring in two attacking players from Birmingham and Bournemouth but given their age and previous loan spells I can’t say I’ll be relying on them to take responsibility over from Gordon but I do hope they will be able to bring something to the team all the same.

Rory Holden looked a bit bemused at times on Saturday with having to play out wide so hopefully we can find a solution that allows him to play behind the striker(s) which is where he is best, and I also thought the first 60 minutes showed how key Danny Guthrie is to our chances of success as without him we lack a lot of creativity. Keeping him fit will be essential this season.

Ahead are two away games now, Tuesday at Bradford and Saturday at Barrow and I’m expecting a minimum of four points if we are to be looking at being serious promotion contenders.

A point away at Bradford will be a good point, and we should really be beating Barrow looking at their start to life back in the Football League. Fingers crossed, we all know football isn’t that easy.

Nick Etheridge

Another Saturday passes by without defeat for the Saddlers. Ideally I’d have liked to have seen us turn one our draws into a victory, but the important thing is that we are keeping in touch with the pacesetters of the division.

If we can keep it up until the new year then attentions may well turn to securing an automatic spot rather than an extended run in the play-offs, although it is still very much early days.

As opposed to our two previous draws, this one was very much a case of the spoils being evenly shared. Either side could have snatched a victory, even though we had the better of the chances. We looked far more composed at the back too, bar one wobble from Liam Roberts.

The game was a really good barometer against one of the better sides in the division. I don’t know if they’ve altered their squad from last season, but if Exeter are anything to go off, having finished in the playoffs, we are more than capable this time around.

When key individuals were missing last season we really struggled. This time round though, even with Josh Gordon and Danny Guthrie not starting, we still managed to match a decent side. Strength in depth will be key come the run in, and I’m pleased to say we have it in abundance.

Dan Price

Another great result, I feel both of these teams will be in and around the top six come the end of the season.

It wasn’t a great watch but a draw is better than a loss and the unbeaten run keeps going.

Great to see us make two signings on deadline day to support the forward line, both come highly rated from their parent clubs if you read the fans forums, so hopefully we get a chance to see what they can offer and help fire us into the top six.

Chris Saunders

I am quietly hoping that we are currently in the fabled slow start that Darrell Clarke teams tend to suffer from. If we are and form and results pick up as the season wears on we should be in a very good position come the end of the season.

Whilst Josh Gordon’s injury is a massive blow the swift recruitment of two strikers gives us competition and options we desperately needed. There is nothing wrong with any forward players we have, just having the extra options to rotate and rest will give us that extra ten percent you sometimes need.

I feel that’s where we fell down on Saturday, with our formation we need the ability for a player to come on for the last 25 minutes with fresh legs and help break the deadlock whilst giving players like Elijah Adebayo the chance for a rest ready for the next match in the busy upcoming schedule.

So whilst we look solid as a team and losing Josh Gordon was a massive blow, the Phoenix that could rise from those ashes in the two players incoming could really see us push on in a positive way.

Robert Dearn

Well it has been quite the week, injuries, signings, and more points on the board. The lads are playing well, and showing why they deserve to be seen as play-off contenders.

Exeter are a good side, with some very good players at this level, and we kept a clean sheet and more than matched them.

This week will be testing, we are on the road, and the games against Bradford and Barrow will not be easy.

We will no doubt see rotation, and in seasons gone by, this would worry me. However, with the squad depth, and the displays of those that have found themselves with reduced game-time, I am not concerned, I am actually excited to see what this team can do, and what the fringe players are capable of.

No doubt there will be some who show they should be starting more games than not.