Following the sad occasion of the funeral of Oli Hewitt this morning, it’s time to get back to the more normal activities of the site. I’m sure, however, that everyone will spare Jolysaddler a thought at 3.00 pm tomorrow.

Do you remember the days when we went into April with nothing left to play for and, as the days grew warmer and the sunshine more common, games meandered along in a meaningless fashion while you dreamed of what would be likely to happen next season to make the team into promotion possibilities? You do? You must be a damn site older than you look, then! Nicholl’s last season in charge wasn’t it? Yes, folks, it’s another “must win” game tomorrow.

The problems for the Saddlers, as far as selection is concerned, revolve around the midfield and, of course, the strikers.

At the back, the defence will come from a choice between Westwood and Pead, Gerrard, Mills, Roper and Fox, with Oakes in goal.

The midfield will be without the long term absentee Wrack, plus hamstring victim James (although he may be fit for Tuesday) and Grant Smith, as Bristol have refused permission for him to play. With Wright having had yet another mare last week and the return of Demontagnac from suspension and Leary looking better for the reserves, Broadhurst has some conundrums to solve. If Osborn has recovered from his sore ribs (he will be having a fitness test), I’d expect Devlin, Osborn, Leary or Keates or Mills and Demontagnac or Keates to be the line up, but anything could happen, even the return of the long absent Michael Standing.

Up front, Broadhurst has shown signs of wanting to use the creativity of Timm in home games, but, with Constable having scored twice for the reserves in the week, the temptation must be to play him and Claridge in an attempt to find a winning partnership. Either way, Barrowman and Fitzgerald will only make the bench, I’d have thought.

Bristol City manager Gary Johnson also has selection problems up front, but of a different nature, as he is short of resources. Scott Murray, so often the scourge of the Saddlers, continues to suffer from the knee injury picked up at Millmoor a fortnight ago and it’s also unlikely that the club’s leading scorer Steve Brooker will have recovered from the knee injury picked up in their game against Yeovil. With Marcus Stewart having gone on loan to Preston, City have just three strikers with first team experience to choose from. Mark McCammon will probably, therefore, be up front, with Welsh International Dave Cotterill.

City have few injury worries in the rest of the side, with only long term absentee, former Swindon defender Matt Heywood unavailable. The back four pick themselves and have been ever presents for sometime.

Prediction time, then.

Bristol City are currently 11th in the table, a full nine points ahead of the Saddlers and there’s been a lot of gloom and doom around at the prospect of playing them. The stats, however, make interesting reading. Away from home, they have achieved precisely the same number of points that we have (admittedly from two games less), so they don’t seem to travel too well. Even a comparison of the current form seems to suggest that there isn’t much between the two sides.

City:- Played 6, Won 2, Drawn 2, Lost 2, For 6 Against 7, Points 8.
Walsall:- P 6, Won 1, Drawn 3, Lost 2, For 3, Against 9, Points 6.

The real problem with the Saddlers has been that loss of home form, bought about by the lack of goals. That’s something which has been endemic all season, but we were being protected from the consequences by the prowess of Matt Fryatt. Find that goalscoring touch once more, no matter how it comes, and we will pull clear. Tomorrow is as good a time as any to start. Home win.

This Friday sees the funeral of 23 year old Walsall fan, Oli Hewitt. As a memoriam for a true Saddler, here is a tribute from someone who knew him far better than I did, Philthesaddler:-

One of the saddest days of my life is fast approaching. Thursday March 23rd was a day of disbelief and shock for all of us as news filtered through of the untimely death of Oliver Hewitt, a well known and much loved supporter of Walsall FC, and a member of the UptheSaddlers message board. Friday, April 7th, however, will be a much sadder occasion, the day it really sinks in and hits home, the day we say farewell to Oli at Aldridge Parish Church at 12.00 noon.

Oliver passed away in his sleep in the early hours of Thursday March 23rd, completely unexpectedly. He was even chatting away to members of the UptheSaddlers community until the early hours of the morning, being his usual friendly, charming and witty self.

One of my fondest, and earliest, memories of Oli goes back to junior school in Aldridge. One day, he came in to school not with the usual regulation black shoes, but with the most outrageous American style white basketball trainers with black strips all over them - he stood out like a saw thumb on the playing field. He took some stick that day.

Over the last 8 seasons I have stood or sat with Oli at Walsall matches, not only at Bescot, but up and down the country. I remember standing, freezing at St Andrews a few years back, watching him, “tired and emotional” shall we say, trying to decorate a Christmas Tree and chat up two [female] nurses at the same time in a pub in Oldham last December.

Oli attended all but 3 games this season, his commitment to Walsall FC was unbelievable, even arctic conditions didn’t stop him getting to Bradford in late 2005.

Oli had a great sense of humour, he certainly knew how to have a good time, he had a way with the ladies, but he was also kind hearted, down to earth, honest and the most genuine guy you could meet. I was always amazed at the amount of people that he knew, not as acquaintances, but as friends - he treated every one equally, he never judged anyone, that’s what made him so easy to get on with. I never remember him being angry or having a bad word to say about anyone, he was just a happy go lucky lad who loved his family, his football club and his friends. He was an instantly loveable rogue with a sense of fun, but also kind hearted and generous.

This unique personality of his is what will stay with me forever, I aspire to be like him, his warmth, his friendliness, his ability to be friends with people from all walks of life; I think we could all learn something from Oli, and the way he lived his life. I have already started asking myself “What would Oli do?” to help me make decisions.

Words cannot do justice to describe how much he meant to people he knew, or how much he will be missed, nor can one imagine how Oli’s family must feel at this time, but I must say they have been brave and dignified.

Hundreds will celebrate his life this Friday in the colourful and vibrant way he lived it. I will never forget Oli, such a wonderful, charismatic person with everything going for him, loved by all who knew him, respected and honest, he will be sorely missed, not least on the away terraces up and down the country or in the Floors2Go Middle Stand Block C.

Oli was a truly great guy. Requiescat in Pace, Oliver Hewitt.

Kevan Broadhurst hasn’t had much to cheer him up recently, but, according to the Express and Star, he’s found some positives around the club.

Some of the fringe players have forced themselves into contention for Saturday’s crucial home game, following good performances for the reserves this week.

Prime amongst those is raw striker James Constable, who got two in the draw against Forest.

Broadhurst said of the former Chippenham Town man:

“James has a knack of getting goals and he has certainly put himself in the frame for Saturday,” said Broadhurst.
“It’s a bit of a juggling act with our forward at the moment because they are all similar strikers.
“But you’re looking for someone to really push themselves forward and James has done that.”

Constable was withdrawn from the game early to protect him from injury, so it looks like he will be playing a part in the Bristol City game.

While Constable’s all round game isn’t really good enough to play the lone striker role with Timm or Devlin withdrawn, he can finish and the acquisition of Steve Claridge does give the option of playing two up front.

From the interview in the Star, it seems that Ishmel Demontagnac, who also scored for the reserves, and Michael Leary are also much in the Manager’s thoughts.

Walsall today held a press conference to announce, in their own usual way, the world’s worst kept secret, the new stand sponsorship deal.

As we have all known for some time, since the news was broken on our message board, the deal for the away stand is with one of the town’s most successful companies – Homeserve, who will have exclusive rights until at the end of the 2006/07 season.

The sponsorship comes into immediate effect, following the previous sponsor, Healthland, going into administration.

Commercial Director Roy Whalley said, “We are very grateful to Homeserve for responding so quickly to the difficult situation we found ourselves in,” he said. “They are one of Walsall’s largest and most successful companies, and we are delighted that they have now become one of our senior commercial partners.

Homeserve have moved very quickly. Their signage is already in place, and we hope that this sponsorship marks the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship between the two organisations.”

Homeserve will mark their sponsorship with the mass release of balloons before the game against Bristol City, so there is an opportunity for the fans to whip up some atmosphere before what is turning into one of the more important games in the recent history of the club.

A dreadful second half performance saw the odds of Walsall having to spend next season in the lowest tier of League football look ever more likely.

Blackpool started the half looking lively, just as they did in the first half, but this time the Saddlers’ defence wasn’t able to cope, as first Roper was lucky to escape with only a yellow card, after bringing down Parker, then Gerrard gave Williams far too much space to fire home.

Confidence just seemed to drain away, as then Westwood made an error to let in Southern and Oakes made a mess of his dive for the ball to nestle in the corner.

After that, there was little chance of Walsall recovering, as the midfield was just not functioning and the afternoon got easier and easier for the home side.

Almost no positives to be drawn from this game, it has to be said, although no real judgement can be made of Claridge’s performance, as he got no decent possession all afternoon.

The Fat Controller reporting in from Bloomfield Road.

The home side had much the better of the possession in the first half, but without troubling a solid looking Saddlers defence too much.

The dry pitch and the wind are conspiring to make this a very scrappy game, with neither side able to put together any real moves of consequence.

Blackpool started brightly and have had well over 50% of the possession, playing with the wind behind them, but looked unlikely to break down the Walsall defence. There were only two real chances for the home side, both of which came from defensive errors, by Westwood and Roper, plus one long range shot towards the end, while, at the other end, Devlin and Claridge have failed so far to find an understanding. All the same, Devlin should have possibly done better with a chance from a Keates corner.

The biggest disappointment so far, for the Fat Controller, is the fact that Mark Wright has not been taking on his marker, the former England midfielder Jason Wilcox. There may well be scope for advancement there.

Kevan Broadhurst has decided to go with a 4 4 2 this afternoon, bringing Oakes, Osborn and Mills straight back, and giving Claridge the 22nd debut of his long career. The line up is:

Oakes, Westwood, Gerrard, Roper, Fox, Wright, Osborn, Mills, Keates, Devlin, Claridge.

Subs are: Fitzgerald, Barrowman, Timm, Leary, Gilmartin