An irregular roundup of football news, both Walsall and non-Walsall, to populate the front page while there’s not much going on

Manny signs on
19 year-old central defender Manny Smith has signed up for another 12 months. The fledgling first-teamer and reserve skipper reckons he can cope with the rough and tumble of life in the front line and hopes to start the season in the first eleven. With only 4 other defenders to choose from odds are that he’ll be there, barring any new signings.

Club charm offensive
Our mates over at NMFE are reporting that the club’s officials will be available to answer questions submitted by email, with answers being posted on the official site. First tried nearly a decade ago, this is a welcome return to a form of dialogue between supporters and officials of the club.

The first question is, obviously “when will you announce this on the official site?”, followed closely by “when’s it going to start?” Follow-up questions will no doubt present themselves as time goes by, as we’re sure nobody has anything to query at the moment.

Real problem for ManUre
Man United staffers are busy repelling Spanish boarders who are desperate to snatch Ronaldo from their decks. In a statement they said:
“The player is on a long-term contract and his registration is held by Manchester United. The player is not for sale. No-one should be in any doubt that Manchester United will do everything in its power to keep its best players.”

It’s a shame that smaller clubs can’t take a leaf out of their book when presented with similar issues.

Premiership clubs not English any more
New statistics show that the amount of players eligible to play for England has fallen to an all-time low, with only 170 of the 498 registered players being English. During the last season only an average of four players in each team were English, and only one team (West Ham) managed to play a team where the average was over 50% for the season.

The worst offenders were, naturally, Arsenal, averaging 0.34 English players per game last year. It’s impressive that this league, which was ostensibly set up to develop English talent and help the national game along has managed to contribute so little yet take so much from football.

Stockpot join the division
Walsall’s Manchester area equivalent, little Stockport, managed promotion to League One to round out the 24 clubs for next season. While they’ll no doubt be delighted they’ll have a struggle to hang on to the youthful squad that brought them here under the guidance of youthful manager (and ex-player) Jim Gannon. Don’t call WFC for tips, Jim.