fensaddler

You and Cloughie should recognise my avatar. Notts born an bred, played for Forest before an illustrious Walsall career... But possibly before your time?

Me too Cloughie. Works for Walsall fans too. Done both the City ground (3-3) and Meadow Lane (twice, both wins).

Typical. It's turned up...

Anyone got any insight into how long it usually takes sportsubs to deliver merchandise? I placed an order for clothing on 3rd Sept and it hasn't yet turned up. Normal?

I imagine he nuts blokes a foot taller than he is. You'd want him in your gang in a dark laneway.

A few random observations from last night. We have a lot of pace in this squad, and that in itself is forcing the opposition deeper. We are also going to win a lot of penalties because pace is going to beat defenders. In a team of whippets, Bruno actually looks slow, when we know he isn't. He looks as good as ever and could have had a hattrick last night. The disallowed goal was a harsh decision IMHO, and of course he was brought down when clean through on goal, which resulted in the penalty. Someone, and I didn't work out who, was knocking inch perfect passes up the wings all night, with the ball often dropping straight to Bruce's feet in space. Bruce himself looks a great player, pacey, hard working, always in space, and always likely to cause problems for the oppo defence. Jakobsen is the dogs bollocks. Looks really capable, the guy we will build our defence around. The rest of the defence still doesn't fill me with confidence, though Chapman looked solid playing full back. Malik is not a central defender and always looked capable of a major cock up. I'm glad our membership seats are in the home end, and not in the side stand. It was like a morgue in there for much of the first half. Thank you active support for your work, which was really important last night. I'm quite sure that Fernando heard the drums. We could be in for a hell of a season. Whatever, it's going to be huge fun, and we are going to see some fantastic matches. Enjoy.

One of several very promising performances last night. Built like another rather famous Argentinian midget, only looks about three times as hard. Looks psychotic, has pace to burn, lots of skill, works hard, tackles, afraid of nothing. Going to be a favourite in a team packed with talent.

First sight of Brandan. Like a cross between a troll and a very quick pit bull. Cracking side to watch, goal potential everywhere. And Jakobsen is a proper defender. Kamau causes havoc.

Consistency. The one signing we never make...

Given the rate of progress, and the quality of the squad, top two would be par, but let's not forget that there are several clubs out there all too eager to knock us off that perch. I think tonight will tell us a lot about what we are capable of. What I'd love is silverware and a place in the ACL. Just depends whether this team gels and finds a good shape.

Yes, if we are looking anywhere, another CB would be my preference too. I don't see real weakness in the squad anywhere else. Whether we have the tactics to exploit that strength is another matter.

I'd agree. The best teams in the A league are now Championship standard. The days of us being barely comparable with English League 2 are long gone. Having arrived from the UK five years ago, I've been pleasantly surprised by the standard, and the football culture here. We underestimate ourselves. Probably another version of the cultural cringe.

I wonder if they are going to announce him at the match tomorrow??

Which is probably sustainable growth. I'd be more worried by a bubble from one player. I suspect we are steadily accumulating fans who are moving over several seasons from casual to committed.

Yes, the one with the hanky on his head...

Gave us a look at some of the youngsters. Quite liked the look of Tongyik, he may make a decent player. Had the talent to find time on the ball and cleared up trouble. The lad playing right wing (7) worked hard, found space and was quick. Could have had a goal towards the end. The no 3 also made a couple of good runs. Bouzanis made a couple of good saves. The lad who came on and played on the left of midfield (36 or 37) also looked to have some talent too. Ballarat is cold and the pitch was very short...

The supplied map of Etihad on the website is pretty much useless at working out where to go. Hopefully when we come to book it'll make more sense...

However, for those that aren't complete lightweights who think Ballarat is on the moon, tickets can be purchased from www.hermaj.com/buy-tickets-city-vs-newcastle A bit steep at $21.50 each for adults, but I'm sure watching our youth team will be priceless...

Anything on the ticketing arrangements for the match in Ballarat? So far as I can see the latest message from the club provides no details??

Thursday 10am??

Absolutely with you on wanting to build this club. My project too. But I suspect that the struggles, the adversity, the near misses and the frustrations will contribute just as much to our commitment, togetherness and sense of shared history as any success we manage to achieve. My League 1 club is Walsall BTW! And believe me, that defines adversity...

Afraid not. Took me ages to work out what you were on about...

Ours are in the 2800s.

Absolutely BT! Think we're all a bit freaked out by shipping four against the Nix. We're worrying how many WSW will get on that basis. A bloody good performance would be really useful... We ought to have aspirations of winning the cup this year, and a home tie ought to be an advantage regardless of the opposition.

I guess my perspective is this. I've spent 35 years supporting a League 1 side in the UK. There have been plenty of "we should have done better" seasons, and the odd "how the hell did we do that" seasons. Plenty of crap managers, bad selections, baffling tactics - could write the book, as could many supporters. All just par for the course. As for last season, well some truth in our defence not being good enough, though we got better as the season progressed. Novillo's absence was at times a problem. But the real issue for me was just baffling inconsistency, sometimes being brilliant and the next match not turning up, or only turning up when we were two or three down. That is likely to be a management issue - tactics, motivation or selection. And yes, our defensive recruitment and retention/release has been baffling at times, not least in this off season.