One goalkeeper target touted by some Walsall fans has now gone. Former loanee Joe Murphy has joined Scunthorpe United.

Laws has snapped up Joe Murphy, who will be the new No 1 at Glanford Park next season, and it looks as if we might have always been struggling to cope with the competition. Relegation would have made it certain.

“Joe is somebody we have been tracking now for the last three months,” said Laws.

“He is a highly promising young goalkeeper who commands his box and also kicks well. We have not been the only club chasing him this summer, and I am delighted he has agreed to sign for us.

“He has had experience with two Premiership clubs and he is now at the right age to be looking for regular first team football. Joe knows one or two of the Irish players we have here and they have helped ’sell’ Scunthorpe United to him” said Laws.

“That’s terrific - and shows just what sort of spirit we have here at Glanford Park. We have got players here who want to play for Scunthorpe United.”

Murphy has signed on a free transfer.

Daryl Taylor has left Walsall “by mutual consent”.

It appears that the Richard Money revolution hasn’t finished yet, by a long way, and that the release of the out-of-contract players was only the first step.

Taylor looked as if he would be staying, after forcing his way into the squad at the end of the season, but, it has to be said, the player has hardly torn up any trees since being thrown into the deep end by Paul Merson at the beginning of last season.

Injuries haven’t helped the player, but he hasn’t looked “on the button” since coming back from the serious injury he sustained while on loan at Hereford last season and, of course, we do have two other right wingers in the squad.

There are rumours all over one of the Leicester City message boards that Richard Money wasn’t Jeff Bonser’s first choice as manager – or even his second.

One poster put up the following:-

“I’ve just had a phone call from a mate who a journalist on the Walsall Observer. He was at the Bescot Press conference yesterday, when Walsall’s new manager was introduced. One of the questions asked of their Chairman, was what other people he’d considered - he wittered on about lot of interest, lot of talent etc etc, but said they had approached 2 ex-Walsall Managers. When pressed, he admitted that they were Ray Graydon and Colin Lee. He said Graydon turned them down because of travelling issues (same as us) and Lee told him that he was about to take up the offer of an assistant manager’s job at an East Midlands club!”

Jeff Bonser was quoted as saying “why would anyone take an Assistant’s job, when he could be Manager?” - perhaps something to do with the fact that Walsall are now in League 2?

Whether there is any shred of truth in this rumour remains to be seen. Money’s CV is certainly good enough that it is no surprise he was offered the job and neither Ray Graydon, nor Colin Lee have departed on the best of terms with the Chairman and it’s difficult to believe that the various parties concerned could ever have reconciled their differences.

Mind you, if Colin Lee suddenly turns up at the Walkers’ Stadium, I might look on this in a new light!

Simon Osborn has revealed in the Evening Mail that the decision not to offer him another contract was not taken by new Manager Richard Money, but was, in fact, taken at Board level.

The player, third in the season’s Player of the Season awards, seems to have been got rid of for financial reasons. It can only be assumed that, as one of the higher earners in the club, it was decided to let him go.

He also said that key players “shied away” from the challenge of the survival battle last season.

“Some players shied away from the challenge,” Osborn said. “That’s a fact and it’s the sort of hard fact the club needs to face up to in the light of a terrible season.

“They have just been relegated so they need to look very closely at what’s gone on. They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well there were some players, including some who are popular with the fans, who shied away when the going got tough.

That was the most disappointing thing of all. I was hurting badly and some of the other players were hurting badly and doing absolutely everything they could to dig the team out of trouble. But were all the players doing that? I don’t think so.”

The question (and the suspicions) remain as to who fits the description of “players, including some who are popular with the fans, who shied away when the going got tough”.

The South Wales papers are reporting that Dave Jones was at Bescot on Saturday, watching prospective signings.

It is believed that Jones’s priority is to get some width in the team, something they have suffered from all season.

One name that has been mentioned is that of former Walsall loanee Chris Shuker, who is out of contract in the Summer, but it is also thought they could be looking at the Saddlers’ England under 18 left winger Ishmel Demontagnac.

Demontagnac has broken through into the first team this season, with some impressive performances, but the Saddlers may well be looking to cash in on the player, despite having taken up a one year option on his contract this week.

Demontagnac’s problem lies in his attitude, having been sent off twice this season already and, on one notable occasion missed the team bus, having forgotten that there was a game.

The England World Cup Squad has been announced this afternoon. The names are:-

Goalkeepers
Paul Robinson Tottenham Hotspur
David James Manchester City
Robert Green Norwich City

Defenders
Gary Neville Manchester United
Rio Ferdinand Manchester United
John Terry Chelsea
Ashley Cole Arsenal
Sol Campbell Arsenal
Jamie Carragher Liverpool
Wayne Bridge Chelsea

Midfielders
David Beckham Real Madrid
Michael Carrick Tottenham Hotspur
Frank Lampard Chelsea
Steven Gerrard Liverpool
Owen Hargreaves Bayern Munich
Jermaine Jenas Tottenham Hotspur
Stewart Downing Middlesbrough
Joe Cole Chelsea
Aaron Lennon Tottenham Hotspur

Forwards
Wayne Rooney Manchester United
Michael Owen Newcastle United
Peter Crouch Liverpool
Theo Walcott Arsenal

Standby Players
Scott Carson Liverpool
Luke Young Charlton Athletic
Nigel Reo-Coker West Ham United
Jermain Defoe Tottenham Hotspur
Andrew Johnson Crystal Palace

Walsall have announced the “released” list for next season and it contains 2 expected names, one rumoured and a shock.

The shock is the decision not to offer Simon Osborn another contract. many had expected the 34 year old to form a part of our plans for next season, but it seems that the new manager wants a new look.

Andy Oakes will also be departing, as rumoured. Word had gone round last week that he had turned down a new contract offer and it comes as little surprise.

The other two names are Atieno and Coleman, both of whom come as little shock,

Quite how much Richard Money has had to do with this announcement, it is difficult to say, as he would know nothing about Atieno and Coleman, so the assumption has to be that this is on Kinsella’s and Halsall’s recommendations.

Meanwhile, professional contracts have been offered to youngsters Alex Nicholls, Mark Bradley, David McDermott and Emanuel Smith. In addition, short-term deals have been offered to Scott Dann and Graham Deakin, whilst the club has exercised its option for a further year for Ishmel Demontagnac and Rene Gilmartin.

Is there something in the half time tea at Bescot, or did the new man in charge see enough in the first 45 minutes and decide to do something? I don’t think we’ll ever know, but there was something there for Money to work on.

First things first, however. We were terrible in the first half.

Kinsella had gone again with what seems to be his favoured option of two defensive midfielders and two wide men. Keates and Mills were in the middle and Wright and Kris Taylor wide. It was a complete disaster. Mills sat deep in a “Christmas Tree”, with Keates “creating”. Both were completely over run. Keates created absolutely nothing and, as Mills got isolated, he dropped further and further back, leaving th midfield deserted of red shirts. Accordingly, the Barnsley midfield completely dominated possession, Wright and the two up front (despite some good runs from both) never saw the ball. Taylor looked like a Conference standard player, especially as he got pushed back to try and double up on Shuker, as Fox was being given the complete run around by him, and got slowly worse as the half went on. On the other flank, Pead was also failing to get a grip with his man, although he was at least throwing himself at the ball to block the chances Barnsley were getting and, in the middle, Gerrard was making a complete mockery of his player of the season award.

Positives? Oakes made one tremendous save, we were throwing bodies at the ball in the box to block shots - and then there was Roper. He was immense. Three times, forwards got clear, only for “Ropes” to somehow get back and wrap a leg round to get the ball away. Whoever thinks he’s slow after this needs their eyes examining. Without him, we could have been 3 or 4 down at the break, with only a shot from Demontagnac, who replaced the injured Wright, in reply.

Eventually, something had to crack and Taylor gave away an unecessary free kick wide on our left and, as the ball came over, Gerrard (not for the first time), lost his man completely, giving him a free header. There was no one to rescue us this time.

Kinsella’s first reaction after the goal was to look up into the stand, as if to ask Money what he could do. Whether Money took a hand or not, something changed second half.

Off came the completely ineffective Taylor for Daryl Taylor and, although the personnel couldn’t be changed, with only Standing on the bench, the formation could, with Mills pushing up alongside Keates creating a more solid look. After that, we started to match the visitors, as the pace on both flanks was really troubling them. Barrowman was desperately unlucky with a chance which went just past the far post, created by Demontagnac and we were looking far more threatening. At the same time, Barnsley began to look a lot more nervous and, in the process, the foul count began to rise. The referee had kept his cards in his pocket in the first half and hadn’t got a grip on the game at all (Nardiello’s continual whinging going unpunished, for example). Lots of players were soon to regret that.

Eventually, the ball found Daryl Taylor int he box, he hesitated when he should have hit it first time, but the full back obligingly bought him down for a definite penalty. Keates stuck it away with aplomb.

Now it became end to end stuff, with the Saddlers having the edge. Constable replaced Barrowman, who had made a lot of good runs, but hadn’t looked like getting onto anything in the box (and had pulled out of one challenge on the keeper). James had a tremendous shot tipped around the post and we had a shout for a penalty, but tragedy was to come. Despite the fact we were coping better, Pead was skinned once too often and, as the player broke into the box, Taylor gave away a silly penalty with a trip. His foot was nowhere near the ball and I have no idea what he was thinking about.

To top matters off, after going 2 - 1 down from the resulting spot kick, the referee lost control of the game completely and started dishing out yellow cards like confetti. One of them turned out to be Roper’s second, for an off the ball incident and, despite all of the effort, ten men were not going to claw this back. It’s not often a player sent off gets Man Of the Match, but he thoroughly deserved it yesterday, as we’d have been buried first half without him.

The verdict? A game of two halves, but the second showed a lot of promise.

Well, this is it at last. The end of a pathetic season of under achievement, culminating in the humiliation of relegation to the bottom tier of English football. Thank God the cricket season is now with us. However, it is still a very important game for some, as Barnsley arrive, knowing that nothing short of a win will be good enough to get them into the play offs. For that reason, they have sold out their 2,200 seat ticket allocation completely.

Mark Kinsella will be taking charge of the team for his second and last game in charge, as new Manager Richard Money will be watching from the stands. Money will doubtless be watching with real interest as he sees at first hand just how difficult a job it might be to turn things around next season.

Westwood will be missing in defence, still suspended from his stupid sending off against Huddersfield, so the backs will come from:-

Oakes, Pead, Roper, new player of the season Gerrard, Mills and Fox.

Simon Osborn will be wanting to force his way back into the side (he is one of those out of contract in the Summer and will be keen to impress) and Kris Taylor, newly returned from Burton, is also available, so the midfield is likely to come from:-

Wright, Leary, Keates, Mills (if not in defence), Osborn, Taylor, Standing and Demontagnac

The strikers will be chosen from Constable, Barrowman, James and Steve Claridge.

A word about Steve Claridge. He will be playing his last game for the club tomorrow, having said on TV that he isn’t been offered a contract by us next season. I’m sure all true Saddlers would like to thank Steve for his efforts in trying to keep us up. What he’s like off the field, I don’t know, but he’s a great character on it.

Congratulations are also in order for reserve goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin, who has been called up to the Ireland under 21 squad.

Barnsley have a few problems. Defender Paul Reid is suspended and fellow defenders Neil Austin and Matt Carbon (what a surprise!) are doubtful. Former Saddlers Sicknote has been troubled by a groin injury in recent weeks.

Men to watch? Another former Saddler, Chris Shuker, is always a possible danger, but they have been struggling for goals a bit this season, having one of the worst scoring records amongst the top ten teams. It’s their defence which has been the rock of their campaign, as they have the second meanest defence in the Division, after Colchester.

Predictions?

Barnsley have drawn all of their last three games as they struggle to get over the line into the playoffs. Goalscoring has started to dry up, as, presumably, nerves take a hand.

On the other side, Walsall, already relegated, seemed to relax last week to get that away win at Gillingham and there will be a few players busting a gut to impress the new Manager, sitting in the stand.

I’m going to really stick my neck out on this one and, with Barnsley’s nerves and us being relaxed, I’ll go for a home win.

Then, of course, Swindon, the Franchise and Hartlepool will lose, Rotherham will be placed in administration today and get the automatic 10 point deduction applied to this season, not next, leaving Richard Money to plan an assault on the First Division this season. Then I get elected president of the Universe, bring peace and prosperity to all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ian Roper’s testimonial game will be against no less than local rivals West Bromwich Albion.

The game will be on July 15th, with a 3.00 pm kick off and will, therefore, form part of the pre-season build up for both relegated teams.

Hopefully, the more friendly rivalry there is between the Saddlers and the Baggies than exists between us and some other local teams will mean a big turn out, but without any “edge” to it. This could be a great day for “Ropes”.