We understand that you may be interested in the appointment of Paul Jewell as manager of your football club. Should you proceed with the appointment of such an auspicious name as manager of your great team, he will no doubt wish to bring his own back office team in support of his endeavours.

Chris Hutchings should need no introduction in this regard as he has worked with Mr Jewell in the past, but just in case you have any insecurities, we, the fans of Walsall FC, would like to passionately recommend him to you.

In his time at Walsall FC, Chris has presided over a comfortable period in the club’s history, steering us safely to a position in the middle of League One and successfully avoiding a relegation dogfight. Do not be fooled by our current league position! Everyone at the club understands that sometimes the ball does not run your way, and that you can be desperately unlucky. On many occasions we’ve won games in all areas of the pitch, but unfortunately lost them on the scoreboard through no fault of Chris’.

Our owner, Jeff Bonser, describes Chris as ‘the best manager he’s worked with’, and that is high praise when compared with some of the previous luminaries managing at Walsall, such as Jan Sorensen, Paul Merson and Jimmy Mullen. Chris is interested in all aspects of the club, not just the team, and is keen on making his mark in many areas.

Chris’ success on the training ground (the best facility in the Midlands, by the way), his success in attracting talent, motivation and consistency is second to none, and without him we would not be where we are today.

We highly recommend Chris Hutchings as assistant to Paul Jewell, and whilst sorry to see him go, would not wish to stand in the way of his development and career. We are, after all, a selling club, and we know our place. We’ll just roll up our shirt sleeves and get on with things, maybe quietly reminiscing over a DVD of some of Chris’ hihglights.

Sincerely yours,
UpTheSaddlers

With regular Neil being missing more than Byfield, it’s another Metfanwy preview this weekend. Thanks, Bangor!

Tuesday nights performance against non-league outfit Fleetwood Town left a lot to be desired, with many Walsall supporters still unhappy with the way the team is playing. An unconvincing 2-0 win was played out in front of a small crowd, with two moments of class from Reuben Reid the difference.

So we head into tomorrow’s Coca Cola League One game against a confident Carlisle United side, who are currently on a 5 game unbeaten run in all competitions. Last weekend saw the Cumbrians run out 3-2 winners over early season promotion favourites Southampton: no mean feat.

Carlisle come into the game with a close to full strength outfit. Highly rated striker Gary Madine went off in the victory over Southampton with a slight knock, but makes the squad for Saturday’s game. The only real selection issue for Carlisle will be whether James Chester will continue in the left back role.

The impressive part about Carlisle’s recent form is that the extremely experienced midfield duo of Graham Kavanagh (our old friend) and Paul Thriwell have been missing due to injury. Quality left-back Sean McDaid (former Doncaster Rovers) is out, as well as striker Richard Offiong. Players to look out for include deadly striker Francois Zoko and creative midfielder Matty Robson, who will cause problems.

What about us? Darren Byfield has been set back in his comeback from injury, and will be out for a further month. Clayton MacDonald, Jon Macken and Martin Devaney have been struggling with injuries, and may make the game. One player absent from the midweek win over Fleetwood was Ryan McGivern due to first team duty for North Ireland and he will still be unavailable due to suspension. William Grigg also returns from International duty, but he never plays. Andy Butler should make his Bescot bow, after missing the FA cup tie due to his ineligibility.

Carlisle should therefore line up: Collin, Simek, Murphy, Michalik, Chester, Taiwo, Berrett, Marshall, Zoko, Madine, Grella. It’s a bit trickier to predict how we might play, it is very much dependent who is available after injury. The return of Martin Devaney may push us back into a 442 formation, after the midweek 433.

Hutching’s bemusing quote of the week comes from the E and S. According to Oliver Lancashire: ‘The manager has been saying that we had been playing well and losing’. We haven’t been playing well..and we have been losing. Also, Oliver may have been tired after training for he also came out with this intriguing quote: ‘Carlisle are a similar team to us, with a similar budget I expect, and it’s good to see a team like that doing well. Similar budget? Really?

The money spent on Kevan Hurst and the signing of very good league one players such as Sean McDaid, Paul Thirlwell, Graham Kavanagh and Franky Simek show the Carlisle board have invested in their side with good results. Carlisle are currently 2 points from the automatic promotion places and the their owners should be congratulated. Let’s hope our owner and board of directors can show similar investment and deliver decent football to a public that has been humiliated by performances this season.

Prediction? We have the lowest scoring record in the division – just 15 goals – against the 3rd best defence in the league. The stats suggest we should lose again, but I am going for a draw. My reasons? It surely can’t get any worse.

Walsall went down to Yeovil on Saturday.

UTS regular sadders was at the game, with less then 3000 other fans. He had the following to say about our memorable performance:

Worst performance i’ve ever seen as a Walsall fan. Not one positive. Clueless, pathetic, dismal, dreadful, awful, passionless. DIRE! I blame the players as much as i do Hutchings and i blame Bonser more than any of them. Richards, Brain and Macken were decent. Smith is a poor mans Ian Roper on this seasons displays and Nicholls either needs to be played upfront or given a confidence injection, terrible. Reid was anonymous and my gosh, anyone that moaned at Rhys Weston for his constant hoofing, take a look at the defensive displays of Lescott, cant defend never mind hoof!

Pathetic. Abject.

We’re going down

A Glovers fan had this to say: pity

Hutchings must face up to some hard facts. He’s not achieving anything like respectability, he’s not winning any fans over, and he’s not getting the results on the pitch.

Bonser must face up to some hard facts. Crowds are going backwards, the policy of hiring cheap isn’t working, and the PR is all coming from the fans, who are giving up in droves.

It’s difficult to think of anything to add to that, other than to say that the slow death of a beautiful friend is a terrible thing to experience first hand, and observing Walsall’s progress this season is close to that. Emotive? Yes. Over the top? No. This is something of concern to all Walsall fans, whether they spend every game watching the Saddlers or turn up once every few years.

Bottom of the league after what many considered a fixture we had every chance of winning. Bottom of the table after winning only once at home in the league. Propping up the rest after taking just one point from the last 24. This is beyond relegation form, it’s become an embarrassment. Where’s the incentive for a fan to tell his or her mates to come along when they know what’s in store? Where’s the relish in telling a stayaway they missed a treat when the treat is a turd with a smear of rancid icing on top?

What’s worst for me is that the club appear not to see this. Take this quote from Hutchings:

To say it was frustrating would be an understatement. Things are not going our way at the moment and we are being punished for every slight mistake

Chris, you’re right – frustrating is an understatement. I’d say horrifying, terrifying, infuriating, abject and utterly inept before even thinking of saying ‘frustrating’. Chris, you’re right – things aren’t going our way at the moment, and we’re being punished for every slight mistake, but to use a hackneyed old phrase; Chris, you make your own luck. Looks to me like the ‘slight mistake’ that’s resulting in us losing five games for every one we’ve won so far this season is the one Bonser makes every Monday by not sacking you.

After close on 20 games without a clean sheet and 6 consecutive defeats, you’d think that a 0-0 draw away from home would steady the nerves, stop the rot, lead toward a bright future, etc. etc., wouldn’t you? I suggest the answer is no. There’s still a lot to do and blagging 0-0 against a team considered as a relegation candidate on the same night Carlisle put 4 unanswered goals past the side that beat us on Saturday rams it home.

UTS regular saddlersam was at the game, and sums it up by phone on the way home, such is his dedication. Paragraphs and spacing are by the editor:

Not a great performance at all but not quite as bad as some will make out.

We just couldn’t get the ball on the deck at all, choosing to (as usual) smash it down the line to anyone daft enough to chase it. We seemed fairly up for it to start with but Orient were able to pass it round us far too comfortably at times, too much time and space on the ball. Same problems, different game.

Brain was a lot better than he has been. Got lucky with his ‘kick ‘n’ slip’ but made a terrific finger tip save over the bar midway through the second half.

Lescott gave far too much space away and McGivern’s crossing still hasn’t improved although some of his overlapping was better tonight.

Lancashire was fairly solid but there’s no communication between himself and Smith. That’s the inexperience showing for me.

Nicholls was poor on the right. He may not be a winger but he just doesn’t do anything to grab his chance. He has pace he doesn’t use and no strength whatsoever.

Richards was having to clean up an awful lot of wayward balls and Gray did some fantastic defensive work during the second half.

Davis would certainly put his foot in but never win that second ball.

Upfront I can definitely understand Reid and Macken’s frustrations, no service from the start, nothing was sticking and the latter showed it by clattering their defender early on. Was very late indeed.

On a positive note, we seemed to come alive slightly once Grigg came on and he seemed to unnerve the Orient defence in the closing stages.1 shot on target though is very poor but i’ll take the point after our recent run of poor form.

We made as much noise in the away end as we could really and regardless of the result both Hutchings and Mart have to go. I’d still feel that way had we nicked it. Apologies if this is a ramble, i’ve typed it up on my phone.

It would appear that the current injuries are causing problems as senior players remain out of the side. What might also be causing problems is the manager’s unwillingness to change what has been a losing team. Grigg, for example, as has been pointed out in the match thread here has played more for his country than his club, and this continues a longstanding Walsall tradition of being too scared to play the kids, even when it is patently obvious that the first choice team isn’t cutting the mustard. Is this poor play or poor management?

The big question remains – does a point away at Leyton constitute the turning point in what has been the worst start to a season in Walsall’s modern history or is it just a pause in a long litany of poor football? The disappointment in Leyton demonstrated here would suggest the latter.

Thanks due to Luke, a regular UTSer, for this preview of the match up the road at the birthplace of the inestimable Lisa Stansfield.

The Saddlers travel to Lancashire on Saturday to face newly (and finally!) promoted Rochdale. It will be the first meeting between the sides since Scott Dann’s Maradona-esque equaliser earned Walsall a point in our League Two title winning season.

As for the teams, Darren Byfield will be hoping to start after recovering from an achilles problem to come on as a substitute in last week’s miserable defeat against Colchester and David Davis will go straight into the squad following his arrival from Wolves on a one month-long loan.

Ryan McGivern and Will Grigg are also available after returning from international duty with Northern Ireland U21s, which including them both scoring in a win over San Marino last Friday.

There are three absentees, with Richard Taundry and Steve Jones both out of contention through injury, while Alex Nicholls is serving the second of his three-game ban.

Rochdale occupy ninth place in the table and go into the game on the back of impressive away league wins at Brentford and Southampton, although they went out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at Port Vale inbetween. Manager Keith Hill has a full squad to choose from and will be hoping for veteran midfielder and captain Gary Jones to continue his fine start to the season, which has seen him score five goals in all competitions already.

The opposition’s other main threats will come from forwards Chris O’Grady, who was ‘Dale’s 22-goal top scorer last season, and Anthony Elding, who will be looking to resurrect the kind of form which saw him score 24 goals in 45 games for Stockport County and earn a move to the ‘mighty’ Leeds United.

As for predictions, Rochdale have picked up a solitary point from their opening two home games, with the Saddlers gaining three from our two away games. On the back of less-than-impressive performances against Chesterfield and Colchester, surely things can only get better. 2-1 away win.

For those fans who can’t make the pilgrimage, don’t forget alternative entertainment is available at the George Street Asda in Walsall, where you can watch kids trying to kick lumps out of our mascot Swifty. He’s making a personal appearance to drum up support for next weekend’s Family Fun Day at The Banks’s Stadium.

Swifty will be turning up between 11.00 and 1.00pm, while the hard-working staff and face painters will be putting in a longer shift, from 10.00am till 3.00pm. If you trot along there, you might win a chance to be a mascot for a match, or match tickets, or tickets for one of the sporting dinners that Bescot’s famous for.

Walsall slumped at home to their 4th defeat in 5 games this season, a 1-0 loss to Colchester. Word on the match thread here is that there were two poor sides on the go and Walsall contrived to lose the game rather than Colchester win through superiority.

Chester Saddler gave a decent summary with little vitriol, so here it is:

My first live match this season, having listened to the previous games on Sadsworld.

A pretty uneventful game, I thought, which neither team did enough to deserve all three points.

First half, Colchester passed the ball better and caused numerous problems down our left hand side. Whether that was entirely the fault of Lescott, or a lack of support from midfield, I don’t know. Apart from one save from Richard’s free kick, their ‘keeper had very little to keep him occupied.

Second half was better from Walsall, but I always felt we would need to score 2 to win, as we looked very open to the counter attack, and so it proved. The ball travelled a long way in the air for the goal. I believe that Brain and the defenders would not have been happy with conceding from what appeared to be a speculative cross.

Having been toothless in the first half, I feel that we should have converted at least one of the Byfield chances, which had we done so, would have given us a deserved point against a pretty run of the mill opponent.

Richards was our best player by some distance. He was involved in virtually all our attacking play and seemed to be the only midfield player who was competent in his defensive duties.

Westlake played well, making two or three important last ditch tackles and was willing to pass the ball on the ground occasionally, which obviously caught the attention of the match sponsors.

Patterson made a promising full debut.

Brain looked nervous (not helped his indecision in the first couple of minutes, or by the ironic cheering from behind the goal when he caught the next cross)

Gray’s body language was all wrong today and it showed in his performance.

The rest were pretty so-so.

So, in summary, disappointed with the performance, the result, and particularly the attendance.

This game wasn’t a season-breaker, regardless of how some of our more excitable messageboard posters see it, nor was it the calamity that it could appear to be just looking at the scoresheet.

After 5 league games, we’ve won 2, lost 3, and the ones we’ve lost could be converted to draws or victories once our young, inexperienced team learns a little more about each others’ capabilities. After our manager took last seasons’ ‘new’ team (rebuild compulsory every Summer, don’t forget) to 10th, this season we’re leaning a lot more toward youth, and with the right backing from the fans, this squad could go places, if it’s given time.

Getting on their backs at the first opportunity is not a good look, and neither is shouting for the manager’s head just because we’re losing. Remember, in the 2007/2008 season we started awfully, waited till mid-September for our first win, and then from the end of September went on an unbeaten run that lasted till mid-January.

This is a young squad that needs backing for confidence. Add to that the financial worries surrounding the club and it’s pretty obvious that the club needs all the support it can get, regardless of who is at the top. As priestley_saddler said on the match thread, let’s change one thing at a time. First, let’s change the attitude that says shouting about everything is right. Support the team first, then see what we can influence. We’re supposed to be on their side.

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Chris Hutchings today made his second Summer signing, saving keeper Jonny Brain from his annual relegation dogfight at Macclesfield.

Brain is a 27 year-old who has done the hard yards for four years with the silkmen, moving there from Port Vale, where he had a mixed time tussling with Goodlad for the #1 jersey.

He’s not a stranger to Bescot – he played against Walsall in the opening day of the 2004/05 season, where Vale lost 3-2 (beaten by Fryatt, Williams and Taylor). McKinney was our keeper that day.

Ex Man City youngster Paul Marshall is Walsall’s first new signing of the Summer, having put his pawprint on a contract for 12 months today.

20 year-old Paul came through the City youth set-up since joining at age 11, and has played for Man City Reserves, with loan spells at Blackpool, Port Vale and Aberdeen. He’s also been to a World Cup, with the England U20 squad in Cairo last year.

Marshall is a 6’1″ left-footed midfielder, and has been played in the middle and on the wing. 20 senior appearances have seen him score one goal – a free kick. He’s confident he can do the business, and apparently is pretty comfortable on the ball. Let’s hope so!

Welcome to Walsall, Paul!

Another season is fast disappearing up it’s own backside and we’re well placed for midtable mediocrity, based on average performances. On the face of that’s much better than a relegation challenge, but after a couple of years of standard preseason sound bites from Roy Whalley about promotion, that’s cold comfort indeed.

The problem with the first paragraph is ‘average performances’. On results so far we’re on 47 points, 10 off relegation and cruising into the home stretch. Trouble is, if we look at how that season has progressed we see two very distinct halves.

In the first 19 games we gained 30 points, helped along by the November purple patch that gave us some hope for the rest of the season. We defeated Yeovil away to round off that half season on the 1st of December.

Since then we’ve played 18 games, won only 4, been dumped 9 times and gained only 17 points, including an 8 game streak without a win. Luckily we made those points in the first half of the season, as that’s relegation form whatever way you look at it. On this basis we’ll be lucky to see 55 points by the end of the season, and we’re doubly lucky that there’s some runaway good teams in the top 6 and plenty of dross surrounding us.

Chris Hutchings was appointed in January 2009 and has now had 15 months in the role as manager, after serving as Paul Jewell’s understudy (and sweeping up after him) for much of his previous career. Never stellar in previous caretaker roles, his record at Walsall has now been so patchy it can best be desribed as flattering to deceive. We’re so inconsistent there’s no tipping point, no crisis, no defining moment that shouts out loud “You don’t know what you’re doing”, but an accumulation of deflating performances, non-existent or ineffectual tactics, inexplicable substitutions, team sheets with good names missing or players out of position, and a succession of lacklustre games that leave every fan flat can say the same thing much more quietly.

Perhaps there’s problems further up the chain? We are all well aware of Mr. Bonser’s desire to leave contract negotiations to the last possible moment, the club’s financial shortcomings and the fact that other potential managerial candidates (and previous managers) have decided that Walsall was not for them based on personal financials and lack of future commitments. There’s a smell of short-termism surrounding Walsall FC, and that’s not good for a sports club that’s survived 123 years.

We need some progress. We need some leadership. Heck – we need some consistent football! Where’s that going to come from? Your guess is as good as mine. Consistently finishing in League One midtable is not my definition of a club going anywhere, but where is there to go when we can’t pay for a better squad and refuse to pay for a better manager?

Sorry there’s no answers in this monologue.

A lot of effort was made to get the game on. And after a long break Walsall returned to action with a defeat. Wyrley Saddler was at the game and gave these reflections via the message board

We were awful from start to finish.
Better team won.
Cracking goal by Richards (by his standards anyway)
We should have had a penalty, clear foul on Byfield.
Hutchings in clueless
We need wingers
Hughes looked like he had put on about 2stone and was knackered after 5 minutes.
We’re going to slide down the table.