The Daily Star, although noted for it’s ability to make something out of nothing, has come up with one name today which may fit Bonser’s desired profile – former Arsenal defender Steve Morrow.

Morrow is currently the head coach of FC Dallas in the United States’ Major League Soccer.

As a player, he was a versatile utility man, who could play at full back, centre back or midfield and he went on to win 39 caps for his country, Northern Ireland.
He is famous for having been injured during the celebrations on winning the 1993 League Cup Final, when Tony Adams dropped him.

He managed a total of 85 games for the Gunners, including that Cup Final and the 1994 Cup Winners Cup win against Parma and the defeat in the Final of the same competition by Real Zaragoza.

He later moved to QPR, before going to the States to play for Dallas Burn. He spent two seasons at Dallas (who renamed themselves FC Dallas in 2004), before retiring because of a persistent neck injury.

On February 3, 2004 he was named as an assistant coach to FC Dallas, but was forced to resign in late May due to personal reasons. However, he returned to the club on January 27, 2005 under coach Colin Clarke. When Clarke was fired on November 7, 2006, Morrow was named interim head coach. On December 11, 2006, FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock removed the ‘interim’ from his title.

Under his management, the team has reached the play off quarter finals twice.

The mountains of criticism aimed at owner and Chairman Jeff Bonser following the Saddler’s disastrous end to the season seems to be hitting home, a she has gone on a PR offensive.

Bonser has outlined to the Evening Mail his ambition to make Walsall a club who can “compete effectively” at Championship level.

He claims his ambition for the club is as high as that of the fans in an interview with the paper.

“My ambition, which is shared by each of my board colleagues, is for Walsall Football Club to return to the Championship. We are building a club that will not only be able to do this, but compete effectively at the higher level, rather than just survive.”

The appointment of the new manager will, therefore, be of paramount importance. The new man will, after the retained list was announced, have only a handful of experienced players on contract - and none at all with any experience in midfield or attack.

Richard Money was a surprise appointment - and one of a coach of rock-solid credentials rather than flamboyant reputation and the chairman has hinted he is looking for something similar this time round.

“Football is littered with clubs who choose managers on the basis of their playing record or being a ‘big name’ rather than their ability to do the job,” he said.

“I can promise that the next appointment will be the candidate we consider able to take the club to the Championship.”

How far the fans will be prepared to take this at face value remains to be seen, with the accusations of lack of ambition still ringing around the ground. Is this a statement with some substance, or just a PR exercise to see the club over the current unrest? Only time, the appointment of a new man and the quality of the players bought in will tell.

The curtain came down on an eventful season with a 2-2 home draw with Hartlepool, meaning the Saddlers finished 2007-8 in 12th place.

Give your views on where the club goes from here on the message board. Lots of questions - who should be manager, which players should come in - and a lot of players who will be heading through the Bescot exit doors.

I’m finding it difficult to drum up any real enthusiasm about tomorrow. The disappointing end to a season of such promise, coupled with all of the problems caused by a summer of rebuilding under another new manager, all of which, if not caused by the Chairman, have been contributed to by him, just drives the stuffing out of fans. I know Jeff protests that Richard Money’s departure was not caused by the lack of clarity on next year’s budget, as he says that the budget hasn’t been set yet. That he doesn’t see the contradiction in his assertions in the press this week that the next manager will have a bigger budget than that which was at Money’s disposal this season and the statement that the budget hasn’t been set yet, just beggars belief.

One consolation, I suppose, is that at least it’s Hartlepool. The good natured banter with the fans of the North Eastern club all through last season (coupled with the fact we pipped them for the title, of course) means that they are one club where the rivalry is definitely friendly and they are most welcome visitors on the last day of the season.

The question in the forefront of most fans’ minds will, I suppose, be whether this will prove to be Jimmy Mullen’s last game in charge. The former Burnley man has made no secret of the fact he wants the job, but the lack of reaction of the players last week doesn’t bode well for his chances. My money is on someone completely out of left field again.

Mullen does have some selection problems. He will be hoping that Lee Holmes and Troy Deeney will pass tests, after they missed the last game.

Ishmel Demontagnac is also hopeful of being involved having suffered a swollen knee after Tuesday’s testimonial game against Wolves. However, Aaron Brown’s participation is in doubt as he took a knock to his ankle in the midweek game. Ian Roper and Paul Boertien remain sidelined, of course, along with Stefan Moore who has, we are told, a calf problem.

As for the opposition, they look set to be without their number one strike pairing.

Joel Porter was taken off in the early stages of Saturday’s game with Nottingham Forest and is a major doubt with a knee injury, while Richie Barker is still sidelined by a hamstring problem

Predictions?

What’s the weather forecast? 19 degrees and showers? If the showers hold off and the sun shines, this, as a meaningless end of the season fixture, is almost certain to be a dreamy afternoon in the sunshine, with the players on the beach and a 0 – 0, unless there’s a dreadful howler from a defender. A nailed on 4 – 0, then!

As was to be expected, Anthony Gerrard has been named Walsall’s player of the season for the second time in three years.

The former Everton youngster polled around 60% of the votes cast, with another 19% going to the second place man, and worthy contender, Welsh International full back Rhys Weston.

The young player award, again predictably, has gone to the outstanding prospect that is Mark Bradley, who made such a huge impression in his debut season.

There is, apparantly, no truth in the rumour that Anthony Gerrard’s fist instinct, on hearing the news, was to ring up his cousin Stephen to say “well, at least I’ve won something this season”!

It’s back to the football tomorrow, after all of the ructions and dramas of the week that’s just gone, and we can forget about the Chairman and the new Manager for a while with a trip to the impossibly (and somewhat ridiculously) named Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield.

It seems that we are on a two yearly cycle at the moment. 24 months ago, we were going into the end of the season with a caretaker manager in charge, in the shape of Mark Kinsella. Two years before that, it was the temporary arrangement of Paul Merson (spit, spit) and Simon Osborn. Tomorrow, it will be Jimmy Mullen’s first game in charge. Whoever does get the job permanently will be a little wary of what’s likely to happen in March 2010!

On top of Mullen’s first game, it will also, of course, be the first game in charge for the opposition manager, as Stan Ternent was appointed as their manager this week, with Ronnie Jepson as his assistant. Two former Burnley managers who took that team to promotion up against each other! Adds a little spice to the occasion.

Quite what team Mullen will put out is anybody’s guess. In fact, it’s difficult to say what team he should put out.

With Roper and Boertien still missing, Ince should be in goal, with Weston, Gerrard, Smith or Brown and Taundry or Sansara as the defence. After that, it gets more problematical. Of the midfielders, only Bradley and Demontagnac are contracted for next season, so should he start them ahead of any of the others? On the other hand, of course, N’Dour and Holmes have both said that they might be willing to stay, so should they be given a chance? Dobson and Wrack (now fit again after his injury) are both out of contract, so should they be left out? Will Mullen have any say in the new contracts anyway?

The same applies up front, where Betsy and Mooney won’t be staying (unless we come to a deal with Betsy). This all goes to show why the job of caretaker manager is a thankless one at this stage of the season.

On top of all of that, Lee Holmes (calf), Tommy Mooney (groin) and Ishmel Demontagnac (knee) are all facing fitness tests in any case.

Over at Huddersfield, Stan Ternent also has some problems – this time through injury.
Former Everton and Bradford striker Danny Cadamarteri (knee) and the highly experienced (the normal euphemism for very old) Frank Sinclair will be missing as will the dangerous Phil Jevons. (That will only leave them with strikers Luke Beckett and Andy Booth. What a terrible lack of resources. Jeff Bonser, please note).

Midfielder Chris Brandon also missed the last game through injury, so may be an absentee.

Predictions?

Huddersfield go into this game just three points behind us. With all of the disruptions, distractions and just plain disappointments of this week, I’ll be astonished if they aren’t level with us by five o’clock.

Chairman and owner Jeff Bonser has decided to go on the offensive, following accusations that the money received for Scott Dann and Danny Fox was not re-invested in the playing side of the club.

He told the Evening Mail:

“Every penny from the transfers of Dann and Fox will go back into the football side of this club. That is not to say we will be signing players left, right centre, although of course some of it will go to the new manager for players. But it will all go to the football side, whether it is the manager or into the youth set-up or the new training ground.

The next manager will have a bigger budget next season than Richard did this. It has been suggested that Richard left because of the budget for next season. Firstly, it should be pointed out that Richard never said that. All along at this club he has conducted himself superbly and that carried on right to the end. But he could not have said that anyway because he did not know the budget for next season. It does not exist yet because we will sit down and discuss it next week.

The accusation that we have not re-invested the money from the two transfers is absurd. Scott Dann was sold at 10pm on dead-line day. We did re-invest in loan players, including Lee Holmes and Kevin Betsy, who came in from Championship clubs and they are not small earners.

How on earth are you supposed to re-invest and sign players in two hours? Scott’s move came right out of the blue. We did not have a bid from Coventry until the day before the deadline.

Some people have said selling those two shows this club has no ambition. That’s just nonsense. We desperately want to get back in the Championship. If we did not want to keep Fox why had we been talking to him for three months and offered him a very much improved contract? The fact is he came to us and said he didn’t want to play for the club any more. So do we keep a player who has made it abundantly clear he wants to leave and then lose him for nothing at the end of the season?

Then we heard more and more rumblings that Scott wanted to go too and, in the end, he came to us and told us that. Again, do you keep an unhappy player? As there were two and a half years left on his contract we could negotiate a good price for Scott.
I don’t think anybody who knows anything about football or business would argue that it was not the right thing to do.”

The only unfortunate thing for Jeff is the fact that he doesn’t seem to appreciate that fans have heard all of this before – too many times. The proof of all of this will come when the club accounts are next published. Will the debts owed to the Directors suddenly have disappeared, or will the quality of the players signed by the new manager during the summer suddenly increase? I’m afraid that he has, yet again, showed that the club has no real conception of good public relations and how to make the average fan believe in the future and the ambitions of the club.

Whether the news was totally unexpected or not is a moot point, but Walsall have parted company with Richard Money.

Give your views on Money’s departure on the message board

It will take some time for the truth to come out of the circumstances behind this, but one has to jump to some obvious conclusions. Dicky Dosh had said that he wanted to have talks with the club about whether their ambitions met his and it appears that they don’t.

We all know that Jeff Bonser will always take the prudent approach with the finances of the club and I, for one, can see the logic of that. However, to not spend some of the £1.25 million received for Fox and Dann in January in strengthening for a play off push is little short of criminal.

At the last Fans Focus Meeting, Roy Whalley said that the ambition of this club was to be in the Championship by the season after next, when the new TV deal kicks in. Today’s news puts that statement in question, as it appears that the club has very little ambition at all.

The situation will be discussed on WM tonight, on the Daz Hale show, when the site editor will be giving his point of view, along with several others, including Darren Wrack.

I’m Walsall ‘Til I Die, I Know I Am, I’m Sure I Am, I’m Walsall ‘Til I Die.

Your chance to feature in an exciting new book about your experiences of supporting Walsall Football Club.

Way of life

Following The Saddlers becomes a way of life for many of us. Whether at home or travelling away we experience moments of elation and exhilaration which become landmarks in our lives. But as we know all too well, there are also the low points of despair and disappointment when we feel that all our hopes have been dashed.

Memories of supporters

The Walsall Supporters’ Trust is publishing a new book which will be on sale at the start of next season. Walsall ‘Til I Die will reflect the memories and experiences of supporters both young and old. Players and managers may come and go but it is the fans who give the permanent character to a club like Walsall. And so as a celebration of the fans, this book will reveal the fun, the absurd, the emotional, the peculiar or unbelievable that is part and parcel of following The Saddlers.

Your stories

We want to meet our longest standing fan! Who travels the farthest to get to home matches? Who has seen more matches than anyone else? Who has the funniest Walsall tale? Who are our record breakers? Get in touch so these and many other stories get in to the new book. ‘Walsall ‘Til I Die’, real football stories from real football fans… Make sure your memories are in the new book! Story telling sessions will also be held in and around the town as part of the memory-gathering process if fans would like to attend - keep an eye on Walsall websites and the official programme for further details.

Please get in touch

If you have a story or set of experiences about either yourself, a family member, a neighbour or friend which you feel deserves to go into the book please get in touch — either e-mail your 200-300 word stories to david@legendspublishing.net, post them to 18 Darby Crescent, Sunbury-on-Thames, TW16 5LA or telephone Steve on 0790 6802432 to talk about your story.
The deadline for contributions is June 30th 2008.

The play-off dream finally was extinguished at Bescot on Saturday as a 3-1 defeat to Bournemouth continued our poor form in 2008, particularly since the sale of Fox and Dann in January.

Comments and reflections on the season have been pouring in on the message board - this is PhiltheSaddler’s assessment:

Where to start? Maybe with the starting line up. Betsy out wide, yet Deeney up front? Oh come on. Our only tactic is to boot the ball up in the hope Mooney gets a flick on, so why have we got our fastest and therefore most likely player to get on the end of a flick-on, out wide? The same player who’s started to look dangerous the last 3 games - out wide? Yet playing the player who looked really quite good on the right wing earlier in the season yet couldn’t hit a cows backside with a banjo - upfront? Why?

Finally DD sees this and moves Deeney out right, and Betsy upfront. Deeney gets a knock and comes off, and despite having a ready-made right winger on the bench in the form of Nicholls, we decide to bring a central midfielder on [who incidently should have started in place of the atrocious Dobson who i’ll come to later] for a right winger, giving us a midfield of 1 left winger, and 3 central midfielders. It was no surprise therefor that we suddenly became dreadfully lopsided. Money told Weston to get forward, but as anyone who knows anything about football could have told you, he was immediately out of position because he was so far forward, with no cover. Despite this strange 3-1-4-2 formation, we still couldn’t keep the ball to save our lives. Anyone who watched MOTD2’s analysis of Newcasltes different tactics this season under Allardyce and Keegan will have seen our tactics almost exactly, Allardyces plan was to boot the ball up, they couldn’t keep the ball - and look what happened to him! Now look at them, they keep the ball, they pass and move, pass and move, open up spaces and get the ball in to the box and shock horror they actually shoot.

Our attacking was simply dreadful, we’re so slow and ponderous going forward its untrue. Our crossing was abysmal - and thats being kind. How many corners didn’t even beat the first man? Thats simple stuff. Really simple stuff.

And Dobson … Oh Dear Oh Dear Oh Dear. How on earth this chap ever made it as a football player is beyond me - I suppose it gives me hope though, ‘cos if he can make it, then so can I. He was worse than useless. By that, I mean we could have literally had no one instead of him, and we’d have been better off. He can’t run, his passes only just reach their target, he can’t tackle, he turns slower that the Titantic and his positional/footballing brain is non-existant - At one point, we were under pressure coming back towards our own goal, and instead of giving an option, he simply ran away from the ball, with his back to the play

We need to get back to basics, we can barely pass, we dont create chances, when we go forward, we simply dont have a clue - it actually looks like they literally dont know what to do. We all know DD is defensive, but I swear they dont even practice attacking in training, I mean the way we attack is nothing short of utter sh!te. Every time we get the oppurtunity to cross, we wait, and wait, and wait, and then finally get it in. Going through the middle, we are relying on a defender messing up somehow, and we betide any walsall player who wins a 50:50! Even when theres two Walsall players on one Bournemouth player, the Bournemouth player came out with the ball more often than not. Thats simply and utterly disgraceful. Any decent manager would be going absolutely mental at that. Yet DD just sits quietly. We all know DD is moody, I just wonder whether he’s just as pead off as the rest of us at the events of January, ‘cos he clearly doesn’t give a f*ck any more. Why should we?