Some what controversially from the sounds of it, I think Hall-Johnson got better as time went on. Admittedly he was flustered for the first 20, and in particular his distribution was not working at all, but I don't think it was any worse than Wharton who also really struggled to get up to speed first half as well. Hall-Johnson also managed to throw his body in the way to smash the ball out away from the box from a corner/cross(?) from what would have very likely been a second goal for them towards the end of the first half as well, but he never really looked comfortable, especially in comparison to Goode who had a good game.
I also thought Hall-Johnson looked promising, obviously not a stellar debut, but I'm hopeful he will be decent for us at RB.
I thought overall we looked to be a technically better side than we did for most of last season. For example, I thought we saw more excellent deliveries into the box in that 1 match than we did for most of last season put together! I thought the teams technical improvement was such that Hoskins' lack of quality stuck out more than usual.
I can't agree with those who thought Walsall were average. I thought they were pretty decent and fancy they will be in and around the play-offs at the end of the season, though we certainly should have took something from the game.
My main concern though is the lack of goals in the team. McCormack, Lines, Watson, McWilliams, Adams and Hoskins are all very infrequent goalscorers, while both Smith and Oliver are not remotely what you could call 'prolific'. Only Williams has consistently scored in league football, but how often will Curle start him in games? It leaves a lot of pressure on Warburton's shoulders to make the step up and score regularly in his debut season, so fingers crossed on that one.
Hopefully we'll see one or two more attacking players in before the window closes, otherwise I think 1-0 (to either side) will become a very common scoreline this season.