• Nigel Adkins has been given the Tranmere job on a permanent basis signing until the end of the 25/26 season. Continue the discussion here.

League Two Walsall v Rovers

Match result

  • Walsall

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Draw

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tranmere

    Votes: 3 100.0%

  • Total voters
    3
  • Poll closed .
Walsall v Rovers
Posted by Ian
Banks's Stadium
Saturday, February 12, 2022 - 03:00 PM
Until: Saturday, February 12, 2022 - 05:00 PM
(Adjusted for timezone: Europe/London)
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Boz

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Not sure about the subs. Jolley seeing quite a lot of the ball, while Nevitt is a similar type of player to Hemmings. Morris having a quiet game, might have been worth replacing him rather than Hawkes. Walsall seem more in the game this half.
 

Ian

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Nooo.. bad mistake by Clarke, brings down the player. Penalty, goal. 1-0.
 

Ian

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FT 1-0. I think a draw would have been a fair result but it took a bad Clarke mistake for the hosts to go ahead scoring from the spot. Walsall were desperate to stop the slide after seven successive defeats and they dug deep and didn't really allow us to settle. I thought we lacked rythmn today for this reason and couldn't really get it going, summed up by Morris' late free kick at the end which went miles over the bar. Disappointing but not a disaster. We stay 2nd on 55 points with Northampton close behind on 52. There were plenty of draws in the top six so not a great deal of movement. Hopefully we can bounce back on Tues night against the monkey hangers.
 
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Well, I thought I was being pessimistic with my forecast that it would be a tough game. What happened? I await the reports from those who know. :(
 

Boz

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Aside from Exeter's win at Bradford, the other results went reasonably for us, but it is a big disappointment that we weren't able to get anything from this game, which puts more pressure on us to get a result on Tuesday. Clarke has enough credit in the bank to excuse the soft penalty he gave away, but expect he'll be gutted.

I appreciate that you don't get a full picture from the commentary, but those attending might be able to throw some more light on things. Hemmings didn't seem to have much influence today, think Nevitt when he came on had our only on target effort. Jolley's touch seemed to let him down a few times, but he was seeing more of the ball than Hemmings so worth keeping him on? Morris also sounded below par, summed up by the dreadful free-kick at the end, so McPake/Mcmanaman on for him felt like the more sensible option leaving Hawkes on.
 
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1 point from on paper 2 winnable away games is a big disappointment more so after the great Swindon result, still when have rovers made things straight forward, looks like a nervous ending to the season for us.
 
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1 point from on paper 2 winnable away games is a big disappointment more so after the great Swindon result, still when have rovers made things straight forward, looks like a nervous ending to the season for us.
This was never going to be easy. Who told you supporting Rovers was? Frankly, I'd rather beat Swindon and lose to Walsall than the other way round. When we lose, Micky always has a knack of getting a reaction, so expect a much improved display on Tuesday.
 

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looks like a nervous ending to the season for us.
That might be a bit of an overreaction. Remember, we did win 3-0 only a few days ago. Our record has been excellent recently and we are still 2nd. That game had 0-0 written all over it which I would have taken, just a shame we lost in the manner we did. I thought both teams were pretty mediocre though.
 

bigmart

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That is a big opportunity missed and regardless of ither results a poor effort, we need to bounce back on Tuesday
 

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drwhoman

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How disappointing. Was no Glatzel a key issue I wonder. He has more craft than the other front three. No doubt RLC will give us his usual valuable and considered report. As has been said, at least the other results were not highly significant.
 

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I think sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition for preventing you from playing. I think if this game had been played seven days ago, the performance and result would have been different, but Walsall had their dead-cat-bounce from the managerial sacking and worked extremely hard. They harried us and frustrated us, and we were below par across the pitch. They actually looked a better side than the other strugglers we have played recently, such as Scunthorpe and Barrow, and would probably be higher in the table under a more experienced manager.

I agree with Ian that a draw would have been a fair result, as we had plenty of decent possession and the best chances in open play, for O'Connor and Nevitt in the second half. However, for the most part we just could not find the quality in the final third, and when a game is so tightly contested any individual mistake can prove fatal, as was the case with the penalty.

Individually, I thought Davies was excellent and our best player and Morris was ok. Hawkes was disappointing and O'Connor also seemed out of sorts and had an unusually below par game. I thought Hemmings played well, but really missed the link up with Glatzel, as Jolley and Nevitt just are not of the same calibre technically. Glatzel is apparently going to be out for several weeks, which is a blow.

As has been commented, not a lot has changed in terms of the league table, and promotion was never going to be won or lost in February. However, there is now more pressure on us to get results in the next two matches, neither of which are particularly easy.
 

ADD

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A shocking result and a major dent to our autos chances despite what some may suggest otherwise. Never saw that coming after the Swindon game - we simply should not be losing such games...
 

bigmart

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Glatzel is going to be a big loss, I wonder if we will go 4 5 1 in away games
 

Sparky

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There was always going to be a reaction to their managerial sacking and it’s a shame despite taking a good following by we lost the game.
Clarke has made the odd mistake previously (Sutton at home), but has plenty of credit in the bank so no criticism there.
Disappointing only one shot on target in the whole 90 minutes given our display on Tuesday but we move on. Glatzels injury is a blow and with spearing missing these injuries are starting to bite. Paul has missed quite a few games now with covid and other injuries.

We were never going to remain unbeaten so one defeat isn’t a disaster. Especially given some of the other results. Some tough games coming though so a shame we didn’t get anything
 
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Boz

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My concern is that we simply didn't test a side like Walsall enough when they were down on their knees. One effort on target and little width to our game ought to be giving Micky cause for concern. I didn't get the impression that they threatened us much, even when having the greater share of possession during the second half, which makes Clarke's needless challenge to concede the penalty all the more depressing. A point from the game, given how out of sorts Rovers appeared would have been ok, but defeat increases the need to take something and ideally everything from Tuesday night's trip to the North East.

Working on the assumption Glatzel's got to be out for at least a month with the hamstring problem, do we look at re-jigging the line-up? 4231 was mooted, but I'm not sure Warrington's ideally equipped to be a deep sitting midfielder and there are questions about Foley playing every game. Unsure about Hemmings as a lone striker, he will need one of the trio behind coming to join him regularly.
 
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My concern is that we simply didn't test a side like Walsall enough when they were down on their knees. One effort on target and little width to our game ought to be giving Micky cause for concern. I didn't get the impression that they threatened us much, even when having the greater share of possession during the second half, which makes Clarke's needless challenge to concede the penalty all the more depressing. A point from the game, given how out of sorts Rovers appeared would have been ok, but defeat increases the need to take something and ideally everything from Tuesday night's trip to the North East.

Working on the assumption Glatzel's got to be out for at least a month with the hamstring problem, do we look at re-jigging the line-up? 4231 was mooted, but I'm not sure Warrington's ideally equipped to be a deep sitting midfielder and there are questions about Foley playing every game. Unsure about Hemmings as a lone striker, he will need one of the trio behind coming to join him regularly.
I agree that a draw would have been a fair and reasonable result, but Walsall did not play like a side that was on its knees. They were more difficult opponents than Barrow or Scunthorpe. I keep reading that there was a lack of width, but I don't see how that was the case given we played a 442 with Morris and Hawkes on the wing. The full backs did not get forward much but that was due to the scrappy nature of the game, and Walsall had a bit of pace out wide on the counter attack which would have made them wary of venturing forward too often.

Jolley was dominated physically by Monthe yesterday and has been poor for a few games now. Nevitt is a better target man, but does not carry much of a goal threat. I think Hemmings is capable of playing as a lone striker with Hawkes / Morris / McPake behind him, and that might be how we set up in certain matches now.

We also missed Spearing's leadership and composure yesterday, and he is a bigger miss than many people suggest.
 
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Ian

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Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition and whilst they were not blessed with amazing quality they did dig deep and make it difficult for us to play our game. We just played played them at the wrong time such is their situation.
 
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