“We want a side that the town can be proud of” was just one of the phrases used by Dean Keates during this summer however the performances of our last two home games have been far from a side to be proud of and one which could be described as an embarrassment.
Yet again last night the players didn’t show any pride or commitment with many of them looking lost and bereft of confidence.
You don’t become a bad side overnight but following our fourth defeat in five its clear to see that this side is slowly slipping into the same mould as the team we watched under our previous boss…..To be honest had a team under Jon Whitney turned out performances like the last two home games there would be people calling for blood!
The bright start was based on a rigid 4-4-2 with wingers playing as wingers – you know the basics. Since the defeats to Southend and Luton it seems that Deano is trying to tinker with the side too much and that in turn has brought on inconsistencies from all. Last night it seemed like no-one knew what they were doing, where they were playing or who they were marking. It was square pegs in round holes.
It doesnt help when you give away penalties like sweets to children for Halloween. George Dobson’s reckless challenge after five minutes gave Charlton the chance to take an early lead which Taylor despatched easily – that was our fifth penalty conceded in our last six home games!
The Saddlers did get into some good positions but that final ball was non existent. Our one and only shot on target came in the seventy-sixth minute when Ferrier curled one into the far corner but the keeper made a good save. You wont win home games conceding early penalties and having just one shot on target!
The myth Krystian Bielik popped up just before the hour mark to make it 2-0 and gave woeful Walsall no chance of grabbing something from the game. Yet again our marking on set pieces was non existent and Bielik had all the time in the world to bring the ball down and fire past Roberts.
The panic button doesn’t need to be pressed just yet with the Saddlers sitting eleventh in the League 1 table – however we are all sitting here this morning and thanking our lucky stars that we already have twenty-five points as on the current performances another twenty-seven points for safety seems a long way off.
We now face the top three (Portsmouth, Sunderland and Peterborough) in our next six games, keep defending like we do and we could easily be thumped in all three of them.
The wheels have well and truly fallen off.
Its going to be a long winter…..
