Well, here we go again . . . . .
Some might say that the Saddlers are back where they belong, in the third tier. Personally, however, I don’t want to stay long and want us to leave by the front door this time, unlike the exit perpetrated on us by the not lamented at all Mr Merson. However, we still need to look at re-establishing ourselves before getting too ambitious and a season of consolidation might well be what’s needed. We shall see. Whatever the case, this weekend’s visit of Carlisle will be a good test, finishing, as they did, high in the table last time around.
The first question, of course, will be what the first line up will be! In defence, Ince is untouchable, if fit, but Weston hasn’t played any of the friendlies, so he probably won’t be considered, leaving Wrack as the only real option at right back. Money seems to be favouring a partnership of Dann and Gerrard in the centre, rather than Dann and Roper. Neither of Dann’s partners have looked overly secure in the pre season, however. The classy Boertien is nailed on at left back, making his debut for Walsall against Carlisle, in a nice balance with the fact he made his Carlisle debut in 1999 against the Saddlers.
In the middle of the park, I’d expect Hall, Sonner and Dobson to be pretty much certain to start, as will Danny Fox, in the absence of Demontagnac (suspended) and Sonko (injured). The fact that those two are missing does expose or need for midfield reinforcements, as there are very few other options left.
Butler and Mooney have been the favoured ones in attack, but Butler, especially, will be coming under pressure from Carneiro, Deeney and Nicholls.
Four of Smith, Roper, Bradley, Nicholls, Carneiro, McDermott and Deeney are likely to be the choices for the bench, along with goalkeeper Bossu.
As for Carlisle, they have, like us, had a busy close season. Out have gone Anthony Williams (Wrexham), Karl Hawley (Preston), Kevin Gray (Chesterfield), Liam Atkin, Derek Holmes (Rotherham), Paul Murray, Raphael Nade (Ebbsfleet United).
Karl Hawley, the former Saddler, will be the biggest miss, probably for both sides, as I have it from an unimpeachable source that we were interested in re-signing him at one time, but they have replaced those players reasonably well, with:
Andrew Cook and Chris Howarth (from Bolton), Danny Carlton (Morecambe), Marc Bridge-Wilkinson (the former Bradford midfielder), Danny Graham (a striker from Middlesbrough, who had a very successful loan spell with them last season) and Ged Dalton (Scarborough) – although Dalton will be missing through injury.
One man we will be welcoming back to the Banks’s, of course, is Zigor Aranalde. Always a centre of controversy when he was here, many fans have come to realise what a good player the Spaniard was when he was with us and the fact he was never given a proper chance to say goodbye to the crowd by Paul Merson is something that can now be put right. (In the words of Joni Mitchell, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”).
Predictions?
Well, this is always the hardest game of all to call – the season opener. Few, for example, would have expected us to come away from Gillingham with a win in Ray Graydon’s first season, when all and sundry were tipping us to go down, and the famous 4 – 1 win over the Baggies in the season they went up and we went down shows that anything can happen
I do like the look of the midfield in pre season, as we have passed the ball extremely well at times, even against Premiership opposition, and, I suspect, the defence will be as strong as ever, but it’s up front that I’m worried. Butler and Mooney look like being the first choice partnership, but they don’t seem to have hit it off that well so far and haven’t looked that threatening. If they do find their scoring boots, though, I’d go for a narrow win.
