Mon 30th November

Fulham lost on Saturday and therefore we’re second in the table.  It’s FA Cup time next weekend and if the Cottagers slip up at Tomorrow night we’ll be in the automatic places for a fortnight.  Perhaps even Ceefax will have updated the tables by then.  Then again maybe not.

RG was delighted with Saturday's result and performance but was again reluctant to use the two dreaded P words.  Good man. 

We’ve still need those elusive last thirteen points to avoid the drop and you can’t start thinking of doing anything else until you get to 52 points.  Negative ?  I am a Walsall supporter after all.

Sun 29th November

West Brom win “the Black Country Derby” (on Birmingham soil) and therefore assume the mantle of second best team in the Black Country.  No matter how hard these pair try there is and shall ever be only one team in the Black Country.  Funny how you can’t find a wolves fan when you want one isn’t it.  Just like in the mid to late 1980’s with the only difference being that there weren’t any wolves supporters then.

Sat 28th November - Bournemouth

No Rammell, no Brissett, the continued absence of Viveash and we still managed to win. 

Disappointment filled the air as Monsier Boli was absent injured (yeah right!) and delight replaced it as Darren Wrack righted all last seasons wrongs. Strangely the words 'disappointment', ''Boli' & 'Roger' have an eerily familiar ring to them. Which is quite a feat for such a talented marksman.

In the end this was very tight game of pretty high quality, punctuated by some wasteful finishing by the visitors and decided by a cracking Saddlers goal. 

Platt and Watson came in for the suspended front two and Roper continued in the place of Ada.  Platt had his best all-round game for the Saddlers and Roper continues to defy his critics with another performance that leaves the number six shirt up for grabs when Ada gets fit.  He was superb and virtually eliminated a very tricky and irritating customer in Mark Stein.

Defence generally ruled and one goal was always looked likely win this and it duly did on 68 minutes.  A great interchange between Marsh and Platt following a neat dummy by Wrack left Dazzer with a clear shooting chance. In a virtual carbon copy finish as the Blackpool winner he spotted the gap, chose his spot and drilled the ball in at the near post.  His seventh of the season and he’d probably be in double figures had it not been for those earlier penalty abbohrations. 

Strangely the Cherries fans were somewhat subdued on their return to their cars.  Perhaps they’re only mouthy when there’s 9000 of them.  I do hope they had a nice trip home.

Fri 27th November

A bit of a grudge game tomorrow as Bournemouth,  our conquerors in last year's Auto Windshield Southern Final,  come to town.  The return visit from Dean Court following last March's glorious failure will live with me for a long time.  Three hours of tarmac,  150 odd miles of trees, country lanes and the three lads in the car who never spoke a word during the drive home.  Even a European exit for Villa failed to raise a whimper of delight. 

We didn’t deserve to go out like that.  The problem was the 2-0 reverse in the home leg and for a poor away side we were always going to struggle to overcome that.
 
However the Bournemouth fans' on pitch celebrations following our Dean Court defeat were so over the top it was untrue.  Celebrating a debut trip to Wembley is understandably obligatory but celebrating by delighting in our misery was a step too far.

No doubt that many of the revellers were probably making their first visit to Dean Court that night. Glory boys with chips on their shoulders.  Perhaps they should be renamed Born mouthy.  Oh and Roger Boli plays for them.

Thu 26th November

It appears to be keep your heads down time at Chateau Bescot as they’re all training hard and keeping quiet.  No mouthing off about how good we are and no mention of either of the the two P words. 

Want another good sign? There's only 16 points still required to realistically avoid relegation. You can't beat a bit of positivity!

Mon 23rd November

The players were apparently pig sick after Saturday’s result.  The E&S quotes Wracky and Marshy who are both mightily peeved, which bodes well for both the short and mid-term future.  We really are going the right way and it has been quite a while since I have felt so positive about the future.

Sat 21st November - Macclesfield

At half time I honestly thought this one was in the bag. Walter Otta had fired home in first half stoppage time and although we were facing a stiffish wind in the second period I just couldn’t see a lacklustre Macclesfield breaking us down.  Our first half display was stunning.  Passing and movement that took me back the best part of fifteen years to Buckley’s Babes.

We fully deserved our mid way lead but again patience was the key as we kept plugging away at a hard working but limited home side.  Wrack intercepting a pass from a Macc corner, carrying the ball from our box to theirs before squaring to Tarka to slide the ball under the keeper.

The second half assault began very early and was sustained for the whole of the very long 45 minutes. We held out for 28 of those minutes until Tomlinson seized on a shot that Walker could only parry and, despite looking iffishly offside, equalised. 

The last fifteen minutes were tense as the Saddlers tried to both hold on to a point and if possible sneak a winner.  Neither side could be parted however and we had to settle for a point.  The disappointment both on the field and in the away terraces serves to show how far this side has come since August. 

There wasn’t any booing but most people saw this as two points lost rather than one gained - so it appeared did the players. 

Following a retched season of away performances last term this disappointment is a good sign.  Man of the match was probably Richard Green but Roper and Walker (one magnificent save) pushed him all the way.

Fri 20th November

The night before we re-visit Moss Rose. We’re probably already onto a loser here because many of the fans will remember last year and expect much the same. Rammell plays his last game before his one game suspension and Brissett before his Di Canio-esque ban. 7-0, it can’t possibly happen again, can it ?

Wed 18th November

Uncle Ray looks across the Channel as he imports a Frenchman (bound to end in tears) and ex-Ipswich frontman Andy Kiwomya on short term trials.  The Saddlers reserves win 2 0 at Bury with timely strikes by Andy Watson and Clive Platt.

Sun 15th November

The local press is full of a story linking Atkinson and Little to the managers post at wolves.  Apparently the directors feel that this is the dream partnership that can lead them into the Premiership. A deal appears to be on the verge of collapse though as both Rowan and Syd are holding out for more money.

Last nights second round draw paired us away to Preston in what looks to be the tie of the round. Sky see it differently and go for Darlington vs Man City and Leyton Orient vs Kingstonian.  Surprised ?  Nor me.

Sat 14th November - Gresley Rovers

A win is a win and in the F.A. Cup that means you make it into the next round. It's irrelevant if you struggle to beat Gresley 1 - 0 or thump them by six or seven goals, the prize for winning is still the same.

Yes, we eventually overcame a very spirited and organised Gresley but we did make hard work of it. Indeed they came, they saw and whilst they didn’t conquer Gresley didn't climb back abourd their coach wondering what if... Thay gave it a right go. 

One nothing and an Ian Roper header was about the size of it but unfortunately the natives were a little bit unhappy. The term “useless bastards” may have been justifiable at Wigan last April or at Wycombe and Bristol Rovers last winter but was more than a little harsh this afternoon.  Indeed the restless amongst the locals may have seen a bigger winning margin if one of the two good chances inside the first ten minutes had been converted.  Keates beat the keeper but the ball was cleared off the line and Tarka headed onto the crossbar before Rovers had got started.

They did get their act together however and although they didn’t really create much they saw a fair amount of the ball. We in turn treated Gresley with the respect they deserved and this in turn led to a fairly cautious attacking display - non of last seasons gun ho approach . This served to stretch the home fans patience and even though we looked in control of the game the half time whistle was greeted with more than one or two boos.

The second half was a more even affair as the boys kicked towards the home end and this served to increase the tension as the Saddlers failed to put an end to Gresley’s fight. Brissett picked up plenty of hammer and his game suffered as the boo boys dug their nails deeper into a seemingly fragile skin.

He seems to be a confidence player and in all honesty the Alsop End has already destroyed the confidence of more than a couple of players. It is, at times, disappointing that the Club’s greatest strength can so often be an individuals destroyer. 

Unfortunately, they will never learn. Roper is one of the players who has taken more than his fair share of stick off the knobheads and it was kind of fitting that he should have the final say in events. Another Wrack corner, this time aimed into the middle of the six yard box, saw George beat the keeper to the ball and nod into an unguarded net. His first goal for the Club and with eleven minutes to go, a pretty good time to score it.

The boys suffered a couple of scares late on but were relatively comfortable and with no injuries and bookings came through unscathed. Again, the only things really important in the F.A. Cup is to (a) not lose and (b) get through and we did both in a good days work.

Elsewhere Tamworth are denied by Exeter in stoppage time,  Kidderminster get a draw away at Plymouth and Hednesford beat Barnet. Result of the day goes to Bridlington Terriers as they trounce Colchester 4 - 1. If we hadn’t given Gresley the respect they deserved and lost I wonder what our knobheads would have made of it. Food for thought boys.

Fri 13th November

It’s F.A. Cup first round proper day tomorrow and the nerves are beginning to fray. Gresley Rovers are a better side than people think and I suspect they will cause us some problems tomorrow. We should win but must be very wary of having an off day and slipping to an embarrassing defeat.

It's a fact that somewhere tomorrow morning a goalkeeper will get out of bed not realising that he is going to have the day and performance of his life. You just have to hope that he isn’t going to walk out next to your keeper at five to three tomorrow afternoon. If he is, then you have big problems.

The F.A. Cup is unique to second division clubs. We are both the hunted and the hunters. On first round day you are the big boys, hunted by the unknowns.  Should you manage avoid capture then sooner or later you become the hunter as the third round introduces the bigger boys.  The only thing for certain in the F.A. Cup is that if you are still in it in May then you’ve had a decent season.

Right now I’d settle for still being in it on Sunday morning.

Wed 11th November

Ray reads the riot act to Brissett and threatens him with the ultimate sanction of leaving the club if his discipline doesn’t improve. I reckon that could well have been the mother of all bollockings. The four players also booked on Tuesday also catch the wrath of Ray as he also warns them about their conduct.

Tue 10th November - Lincoln City

There was never going to be a better chance than tonight to end out weeknight jinx.  No Tuesday or Wednesday wins this term has been a a bit of a pain in the backside but the visit of bottom club Lincoln City gave us the opportunity to end the sequence.  We did 2 - 1, and in turn took our points total to 35.

To say we did it comfortably would be wrong however because no matter how bad we were, our matchday official stole any awards for shite performance of the evening. Comfortably. The nob also has a bit of Saddlers previous and appears to have a penchant for sending off one particular type of player given that both Charlie Ntmark and Roger Boli had previously suffered red cards for incidents of laughable importance.

Charlie was dismissed as the ball rebounded off a post and onto his arm - the ball was therefore going in the away from the goal and the incident was adjudged to be a professional foul.  Boli, last season, was kicked from pillar to post for seventy minutes without protection, eventually (inevitably) lost his rag and was dismissed for dissent. 

Tonight saw Jason Brissett and Lincoln’s full back tOOK an early bath.  In the red corner, Brissett was dismissed for reacting to an awful tackle with a right hook and his opponent in the blue corner walked for what was a ludicrously dangerous tackle. The nob also managed to find a reason to dismiss Lincoln boss Shane Westley in the second funniest incident of the night. Oh how I do enjoy seeing old wolves players struggle at Bescot.

The boys made this one very difficult for themselves by handing Lincoln a daft goal that gave the Imps something to fight for.  And fight is essentially what they did given that bone crunching tackle followed bone crunching tackle followed bone crunching tackle as the visitors tried desperately to unsettle us.

It worked.

We fell more and more into the trap of hoisting high balls at Andy Rammell and that played straight into the hands of our visitors. The game seemed to have disappeared from us when Brissett was dismissed and we then lost Viveash with what appeared to be a knee injury. Physically ravaged and mentally rattled, we looked out on our feet in a game we really should have won and there seemed no way back.

However this side is better than that. On seventy minutes Walter Otta crossed beautifully for Wrack to head his sixth goal of the season at the far post and at despite having 20 minutes to bombard our opponents I think that almost everyone would have taken a point there and then.

We then started to boss the game however and Roper’s introduction for Ada remarkably seemed to steady the back four. We created and missed two or three half chances to take the game after the equaliser but as we entered injury time the game took one final dramatic twist.

Tarka was fouled in the box (a clear dive), the ref gave a penalty and Andy Rammell, big bad Andy Rammell was presented with the opportunity to win it from 12 yards. Yeah! Well, no actually, as the visiting keeper guessed right (left actually) and turned Rammell’s spot kick around the post. Our third penalty miss of the season (four if you include GP at Leek) and this time it was a very costly one.

All wasn't lost however and as the resulting corner caused mayhem in the Lincoln box Otta stuck a leg out, poked the ball over the line and Bescot exploded into celebration as the goal lifted us up to third in the table.

The five minutes of stoppage time that followed our goal were as funny as fuck. Following Lincoln’s attempt to waste almost the entire ninety minutes we returned the favour quite magnificently, severly pissing them off with huge portions of time wasting. As the ball disappeared over the far side of the ground it took an age for a new ball to appear and when it did it was rolled onto the near side of the pitch it moved in virtual slow motion.

Make no mistake the return tie will be spicy as there are still scores to settle from this one. Pointon in particular took some major physical stick and will remember this one though, possibly, for the right reasons as he probably put in comfortably his strongest performance of the season. Now that, considering he hasn’t had a bad game, is some performance. Man of the Match by a mile.   

Mon 9th November

It turns out the weekend’s highlight wasn’t the Saddlers 3-0 win but the beating Wolfie got at Ashton Gate.  The children’s story tells the tale of a wolf victimising those tasty little piglets with his bad breath.  The 1990’s adult version however is better, much better. 

Big bad and arrogant Wolfie tries to ruffle the piglets on the halfway line and suddenly the one piglet decides he isn’t having any of it and stands up to our bad-breathed gold & black-miester. 

Wolfie then decides to push the piglet once more and the cute pink furry pig responds by smashing a left trotter onto Wolfie’s chin. A scuffle ensues and all parties are thrown out. On marching the furries through the tunnel City Cat escapes his escorting clutches and also sets about twatting the Wolf. 

Fair play to the mascots who took no wolves crap and subsequently joined Baggie Bird on an ever growing list of fur covered Wolf asailants!

On a more football note, we play Shane Westley’s Lincoln City tomorrow night. I wonder if they will be similar to Bury, Colchester Northampton etc.  Does a bear shit in the woods? 

Sat 7th November - Millwall

I seriously can’t remember the last time we began the month of November with 29 points.  At a guess I’d say it was the 87/88 promotion season but I can’t be sure.  Respect goes to UR and the players because no one would have believed we could maintain form like this for so long.  With two home games coming up and six points to be won who knows where in the table we will be next Saturday tea time.

Millwall were the visitors at Bescot today and in truth they were awful.  They appeared to have little pattern, organisation or idea where the net was, so much so that a 3-0 home win really didn’t flatter us.  I imagine that at various destinations last season we looked as lost as the Lions did today as we ambled our way through a series of clueless away defeats. 

Those days appear to have gone however and as last Saturday showed the boys don’t have an appetite for defeats and, if necessary, park up the pretty stuff and mix it a bit. Today was one of those matches.  Millwall are not a big, physical side in the Northampton mould but they do know how to break a game up and disrupt the oppositions flow.  Hence, Walsall showed little in the way of flair and creativity and plenty of graft and determination. 

Suspensions for Ada and Pingu meant starting places for Roper and Porter and both stepped into the breach well.  Roper in particular had a fine game and if the sponsors had any heart they would have given him man of the match.  His gangly frame regularly makes him look frighteningly uncomfortable and his passing generally lets him down too often for the supporters to take to him but he will make it as a pro.  It might not be at Walsall but, as with Dean Smith, he will make it somewhere. 

The first and probably most important goal came from a well worked corner (again) as Dean Keates crossed for Richard Green to head home at the near post.  Greeny’s first goal for the Saddlers.  The second came direct from a corner as Darren Wrack curled the ball on the wind over everyone and inside the far post.  Both goals raised a lot of questions of the Millwall keeper but I’m not complaining. 

The third in the second half followed a cracking and decisive save by Walker with debutante Walter Otta, or Tarka to his mates, crossing for Rammell to amend for two previous glaring misses with a neat finish. 

We cruised home from there and in doing so avoided any bookings or injuries and climbed to fourth in the table. 

A fine days work however was frustratingly sullied somewhat by the mess that is currently referring to itself as Bristol City FC.  No manager, and seemingly no idea on how to cope with life in the first division the Robins were embarrassed 6 - 1 by you know who. Even David Connelly notched so they must be crap.  Shame on you.

Wed 6th November

The evening brings sporadic reports that Mark McGhee’s reign at Clowns’r’us is about to end. 

Teletext and local radio offer unsubstantiated reports and suggest more news will follow soon. 
Thursday 7th November. The morning brings the confirmation that the fun is temporarily over as Muggy departs Dingle Central.  Mutual consent apparently i.e. Do one and we’ll pay you to keep quiet.

When Robbie and Stevie turn up (together) they are shocked to be told the news from the local news crew.  I suspect that the teletext is much too complicated for a simpleton like Stevie and we know that Robbie is only allowed to use the remote when under the supervision of a grown up.

Colin Lee is installed as caretaker while the search begins and he insists the Muggys good work will not be wasted.  Good man.  The Express and Star editorial states that it is wolves birthright to be in the Premier League and that they are not a sacking club.  Point 1 -  There isn’t an English Premier League, it is the Premiership.  Point 2 - Who was their last manager who voluntarily resigned?

Tue 5th November

Another cracking night for wolves & Vile as they both slump again to poor defeats. Vile exit the UEFA cup at the hands of world famous Celta Vigo and have conceded five goal in their two home UEFA Cup games,  which in truth that says a lot about their overall quality.  

Doug Ellis says the cream of Europe competes in this competition and he is partially correct.  However the competition between the cream begins when shite like Villa have been eliminated. 

On a domestic note Ipswich Town overcome the newly described bare-to-the-bone wanderers 2-0 and the Muggy baiting season is in full swing.  Mark states that man for man Ipswich were better than wolves but if wolves had had Kieron Dyer they would have won.  Work that one out.

Wed 4th November

The reserves beat Hull City stiffs 3-0.  An Argentinean notches all three and gets a short term deal to boot.  That’ll please my mate Mr Dodsworth.

Sun 1st November

Yesterday’s FA Cup draw paired us at home to either Gresley Rovers or Frickley Athletic. Gresley are third in the Doctor Martins Premier and Frickley mid table in the Northern Premier. I don’t have the slightest idea where Frickley is though. I do know that Gresley aren’t a bad side and believe the standard of their ground has held them back before now. We should however overcome this one safely. Indeed we'll all know about it if we don’t.

The clowns up the road failed to beat ten men Barnsley yesterday and Muggy revealed that he felt he needs more players. Well old boy you had more players, many more players. However, given that you’ve already chosen to offload Roberts, Freedman, Claridge, Wright and Froggatt amongst others this year how can you seriously say you are short of attacking options?

His critics reckon that he has absolutley no idea what he's doing. Personally I think he’s doing a cracking job.