I make no apologies for presenting Geordie Saddler’s view of the season so far.

Last season DD said at the start the objective was to win the league, he didn’t say “the objective is to play sublime entertaining football”. On numerous occasions he referred to finding “different ways to win football matches” “standing up and earning the right to play” getting “ugly” wins. We did of course achieve our objective.

As supporters we knew what last season was about, getting out of that god-awful league any which way. It wasn’t about starting Ishy in the hope that he can have one of his 1 in 3 “head right” days where he can excite the crowd, or playing pretty, entertaining football like Lincoln and Wycombe attempted.

This season its common knowledge (as referred to most recently by DD post Hartlepool) that the objective is to be competitive, and bring in players that will steady the ship and consolidate our position whilst we develop our crop of exciting youngsters into genuine first team players. Hall was brought in to mentor Ishy, Mooney likewise Deeney etc. Weston and Sonner were brought in as like-for-like replacements for Keates and Westwood.

In search of extra quality and attacking flair we have seen the arrival of the usual mixed-bag of foreigners some of whom will, and did turn out to be rubbish, others gems.

Pre-season Dosh called for patience. This was latched upon by the usual suspects as being some kind of verbal slight. Then a few early season defeats and the same “experts” are calling for the manager’s head, slating ALL of the pre-season signings, telling STM to “go away”, and most laughably of all claiming that we finishd last season with a better team than we currently have.

So approaching the 10 game mark which to all reasonable people is a point of genuine reflection, where are we?

Well, mid-table.

Signings: We’ve discovered an absolute gem in Sonko who not only is getting better in every game, but in terms of footballing ability is head and shoulders above anyone who has played on the wing for us since Jeff Peron IMO. Its early days but I’ve seen enough of the guy to say if you want to be excited following last season’s pragmatic approach, get yourself down to a Walsall match and see this man play - he is superb.
Sonner - not good enough and gone after 7 games to replaced by Mattis - who is good enough.
Boertien - excellent.
Weston - average.
Mooney - excellent signing, if fit, one of the best strikers in the division, probably won’t score 20 goals but will get 12-15, and the other attributes he brings to the team are priceless.
Caneiro - Rubbish
Hall - not great, but can chip in when necessary.
Mawete - unknown.

The youngsters :
Deeney - already a regular in the squad and developing nicely.
Ishy - varies from complete rubbish to unstoppable, but features in virtually every game having signed a new contract.
Bradley - Getting regular squad place and now playing a role.
McDermott - Fringes, yet to really do much.
Dann - slow start but getting back to his best.

The existing regulars:

Ince - pretty good season thus far.
Gerrard - done a job and probably better than Roper.
Fox - superb, most improved player at the club.
Dobson - quietly effective.
Wrack - up and down, but a versatile performer.
Roper - poor.
Butler - rubbish, dealt with, and on his way.

The football:

Infinitely better standard than anything we saw last season, Oldham apart we have competed well in every game and at times we have looked a very good league 1 side.

The future? I hope we can avoid anymore injuries, we certainly have had our fair share. If Sonko and Ishy can continue to display their ability consistently we are going to terrify some League 1 defences. We are defensively okish, likewise midfield, and definitely short of another quality striker to help Mooney out.

Probably 2 or 3 quality signings short of being a top 7 or 8 side, but maybe 2 or 3 injuries away from being well short.

Next year I fully expect the “quality gap” to be filled by the youngsters we have who are the future of the club.

Do our supporters have the intelligence and patience to realise this?

Yes I think most do, one or two don’t for some reason and demand risky expenditure which of course could result in said youngsters being flogged off prematurely as happened under Merson with disatrous consequences.

Our club is moving in the right direction, as about 600 extatic Saddlers witnessed last night, I just hope the next “Oldham” and there will be a few along the way, maybe even this Saturday, will be greated with a bit more of a balanced reaction.

The Fat Controller (and his compatriots in the car) had no hesitation in describing this as the best Walsall performance they have seen in many a long year.

Manager Richard Money, ever one to pick a team for the occasion, surprisingly went for a change in the side that had won at Hartlepool on Saturday, bringing in Bradley for Deeney and playing a 4 5 1 formation.

The Saddlers found Donnie a match for them in the first half, especially having conceded an early goal, one that the Fat Controller thought Ince should have done better with.

The character of the side, however, was shown when they fought back and Danny Fox smashed home an equaliser from a free kick for his third of the season.

The dangerous Lewis Guy put Rovers back in front shortly before half time, however, always a bad time to concede.

Money’s half time team talk did the trick, however, as, for the first 30 minutes, Doncaster were hardly able to get out of their own penalty area, let alone their own half. Some scintillating football from the Saddlers mean they were pegged further and further back, until the impressive Bradley got his first game for the club for the second equaliser.

Then came goalkeeper Neil Sullivan’s complete moment of madness. He collected the ball under a challenge from Ishmel Demontagnac and then, for some completely inexpicable reason, took a kick at the young left winger. The superb Tommy Mooney gratefully tucked away the spot kick.

Right at the end, Rhys Weston, on for the injured Darren Wrack, gave away a penalty, which the Doncaster player dragged ten yards wide of the post and their young striker Lewis Guy was also given a straight red card for something he said, or an incident off the ball, the Fat Controller wasn’t sure which, as play wasn’t under way at the time.

Man of the Match was a unanimous decision from the Fat Controller and friends – the wonderfully composed and hard working Tommy Mooney.

Mid table respectability reached – now let’s do something about that home form.