Walsall the Fuss About?

I wasn't planning on going to watch Leyton Orient play Walsall yesterday. It's a not a fixture to get the pulse racing. I say that as an Orient fan and I expect the feeling on the Walsall side is mutual. However, having not planned to be at a huge number of Orient games this season I suddenly find myself in possession of a season ticket. So there you go and there I went. Faced with attending a game I realised that I possibly wasn't as over the play off final defeat as I had thought. But seeing your team for the first time each season is always an enticing prospect and I looked forward to it. I hadn't gone to the first game of the season. The idea of the hubris that was likely to be present in the stands turned me right off. From the online reaction to the defeat against I felt I had made the right decision. So for me this was the first of the season. New players to size up, changes to check and all the rest. So it was a real shame that the game itself was such a dud.



The phrase 'It won't live long in the memory' might as well have been invented for this game. It was overall so dull that it's difficult to pick out any highlights. The official highlights are barely a minute in length. Take a look for yourself

A minute was enough time to show the first candidate for amusing miss of the season. A Walsall forward finds himself inside the 6 yard box, ahead of Orient goalie Adam Legzdins, courtesy of some Billy J Smart style defending from Orient. Instead of steadying himself and tapping the ball home and he takes the rather more unorthodox decision to spin round and backheel the ball into the net. Except, of course, that he sliced it wide.

It was certainly no game for the neutral so I wonder what the fans get from a game like this. Walsall fans are probably a little antsy after their third draw in four games. They didn't show a huge amount of goal threat; indeed the aforementioned dropped bollock was the only time I was genuinely worried that Orient's goal wouldn't remain intact. I'd imagine with our form last season and our much trumpeted new levels of funding and marquee (for League 1) signings that Saddlers fans were ok with the outcome if not enthralled with way it was reached.

For me it was a first chance to see players like Legzdins, Darius Henderson and Jobi McAnuff. The appraisal of new signings is a key part of early season for fans. For what it's worth, despite the team performance not being up to snuff I largely liked the new signings. McAnuff looks like he'll scare a few League 1 defences this year. The same was also suggested by Jay Simpson's cameo as a substitute. As Walsall didn't fashion any real threats I'll reserve judment on Legzdins. For me the player who stood out was Henderson. A footballing lump in the best sense of the phrase. He'll not only scare defenders but hurt them too. He's the kind of player Orient fans have rarely seen over the last few decades. He also seems to have developed the useful skill of winning fouls while blatantly fouling the opposition. Obviously can't condone it but it's wonderful to watch.

Overall I was pretty pleased with the additions to the squad but no-one played particularly well. We dominated the first 30 minutes but tailed off up to half time and never found our rhythm in the second period. Orient's manager, Russell Slade, has said we're a work in progress and I make him right. For all that was wrong in the performance I came away largely optimistic about the season ahead. Still not enthused though. The mystery that surrounds the club and the new money that is supposedly swilling around still doesn't sit comfortably with me. Promotion, IF it happens this season could never taste as sweet as it would have done last season. It would still be an amazing achievement but my joy wouldnt be quite as unconfined as it is in that part of my imagination where Rotherham failed to score anything more than a consolation at Wembley.

I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of negativity from Orient fans yesterday. It'll come though if things don't click soon and that'll be a shame. Of everyone yesterday it was the neutrals I felt sorry for. There was little to take away after having stumped up twenty quid plus. Why they wouldn't go to a non league game spend half or quarter on the admission and watch the game beer in hand. For all the undoubted skill on show and fitness levels it didn't compare at all favourably to the non league games I've seen so far this season. I would've enjoyed it much more if we'd won, even by a solitary goal but I'm not sure a neutral would've got more out of it. I'm fully aware that there are plenty of crappy scoreless draws in non league football but I doubt many bring on the soul destroying ennui that this one was capable of at times. I exaggerate (I suppose) but the point stands. I'm now lucky enough to be a season ticket holder but I wonder how many games I;ll actually enjoy. Even if they;re good and we perform like we think we should they still mean a lot. It's that meaning that can make the game so painful to watch. I'll be back though, I'm not ready to walk away yet.

P.S. No snaps. I'm a crap photographer without the skill to bring any new to the party, plus I wanted to watch the thing.