I'm still confident that he will come good. Admittedly, it's taken him a little while to settle into his new surroundings and he needs to get used to the players around him but he has shown glimpses of the quality that made him such a big fans favourite at Cambridge United and to a certain extent at Leyton Orient.
I think part of the problem for him has been that filling Branno's boots is no easy task and it has been difficult for him. Quite simply he will never be another Branno, but let's face it there aren't too many defenders in this division quite like Guy anyway. Branno was so dominant in the air, so vociferous in cajoling others and organising the defensive unit and he played a large part in keeping us very tight at the back particularly when defending set pieces. Saah on the other hand isn't a great talker and whilst he wins his fair share of headers he will never be in Branno's league as far as that side of the game is concerned. He does however have different qualities I would suggest, he is a lot better in possession of the ball than GB, is a better passer and certainly has more pace. I also think his awareness and reading of situations will improve as he gets to know his defensive partners better.
I do think that we are more vulnerable now to conceding goals from set plays and to a certain extent to crosses into our penalty box as Branno was excellent at getting his head on anything that came into our box - and I also think that we shouldn't forget what an excellent defender Zebs was in set play situations too, he was often back winning headers in our own box from corners and we probably don't have someone as effective as him amongst our current crop of forwards in that aspect of the game.
Unfortunately for him in many ways he has been "burdened" with the responsibility of being made Club Captain by Martin Ling. Whilst it was an understandable decision on the part of the Manager it has rather added to the pressure on the player himself. Some fans now see him (Saah) as being a Manager's favourite (which let's face it he probably is!) and some even see his role as in some way challenging that of fans favourite Lee Mansell who is the Team Captain. However I don't see it like that at all, he (Saah) is not the leader on the pitch that role still belongs to Lee Mansell and he is clearly better suited to it than the "quiet" man that is Brian Saah. Saah's role as Club captain is all about off the field duties and yet he is expected by certain fans to be the leader on the pitch too when that is not his specific role. I do agree that it would however help his cause a bit if he were seen to be a bit more vocal and to be more of a leader at the back but he is still very much the new boy on the block in our defence and that may still come with time hopefully.
I think it's clear from his reaction to the crowd when he scored his goal - the traditional hand cupped to the ear but on this occasion aimed at the home fans - suggests that he is aware that there are certain sections of the home crowd who have started to get on his back - but what better way to respond to that than to score your first goal for the team (an important one at that) and for the defence to keep a clean sheet, for you to win the MOM award from the sponsors, for him to be included in the Football League L2 team of the week and for your team to be sat in 4th position in the table after a fantastic return of 11 points from 6 games - particularly given the tough start we have had. It really doesn't get much better than that does it! Nice one, Brian!
