By Schizophrenic Saddler
February 14 2004

As we move into February the gloom deepens around Bescot Stadium. Little glimpses of hope are served up with larger helpings of disappointment. One thing is for certain. Nothing less than 3 points against Watford will be acceptable. Over to you Colin. After our 6-1 home drubbing against the Sky Blues the last thing we needed was a fixture against near neighbours Stoke City. The thought of losing against our North Staffordshire rivals is quite unbearable at the best of times, even more so considering they have gone from relegation fodder to overtake us in the league.

All hopes of a top 10 finish quickly evaporated after the Sky Blues game and the mood of the fans darkened severely with the farcical events going on at the club. Coupled with the suspension and injury crisis we were treated to a very public spat between the manager and our most influential midfielder resulting in Vinnie Samways returning to Spain and vowing never to return. With many first team players missing, Vinnie taking a Siesta, the absence of a strike force and the continuing mantra coming from the boardroom bleating “we have no money” things were not looking good.

However, even though we lost against the Potters things did seem a little brighter. Colin Lee and Vinnie Samways patched up their differences and Matt Carbon showed that he can still play in what was a very good team performance. Having reverted back to playing Merson behind two strikers the team looked like they could score goals again.

The most positive aspect to come from the game however was the debut performance of youngster Kris Taylor who capped off an energetic display with a well taken goal. With Colin Lee seemingly having a preference for the older, more established type of player it was a breath of fresh air to see a youngster given a chance.

Hopefully, this will have given Colin Lee a little reminder that it is good to include some youth and energy into what is an ageing side.

The outlook for the remainder of the season is quite simple. We need to get to the magical 50 point mark in order to secure another season at this level.

Having suffered our January jinx yet again we had on paper a seemingly easier set of fixtures to aid our recovery program. Matches against Crewe, Forest and Watford should at least see us well on the way to safety.

Unfortunately, only 2 points have been collected in the above mentioned matches so far which still leaves us hovering dangerously above the relegation trap door.

Worryingly, Walsall seem to be suffering from some type of second half-itus where the points are just handed to the opposition for reasons which seem unclear. After having dominated against Alex we were totally destroyed in the second period and were lucky to come away with a point. The least said about the second half annihilation against Cov the better and now having been 3-1 up against a Forest side who hadn’t won in what seems like 3 years we escape with a single point.

What on earth is going on? Is it a lack of belief? Is it fear? Is it a lack of direction from the management or is it simply that our granddads are unable to compete for the full 90 minutes without their oxygen bottles?

Another puzzler is the recent omission of youngster Kris Taylor after his excellent debut against Stoke. Why? It is obvious that we need some energy to help relieve the pressure during the second half onslaughts and his ability to run at opposition defences and cause them problems means he should be utilised more effectively than languishing in the reserves or on the bench.

One thing is certain now. Anything less than 3 points at home against Watford will be totally unacceptable.

It’s crunch time Colin.