I’ve noticed this myself he is always hes always running his hand through his hair or rubbing his face. But when he his doing fan forums you see none of the awkwardness he shows in front of camera
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Exactly. A bit of perspective needed.
I’ve gone for poor. Agree with many of the comments:
: Constantly changing the team
: Poor tactics and in match management
: Inability to solve the poor defending of set pieces
: No set way of playing
: Big headed
: Blames himself for defeats then comes the “but”
: Signed some very poor players.
Apart from that he’s great 
Another thing that gets on my tits is the quick free kicks tactic, which obviously the players have been instructed to do. The amount of times we give away possession, particularly when we get a free kick in a defensive position and then quickly launch the ball upfield to our lone attacker, which is immediately picked up by the opposition.
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Shame that’s part of his job.
I pretty much agree with all of that and also rate his performance as poor.
I can see the comparison with Smith’s tenure but Smith didn’t hang his players out to dry like DC (not that I recall anyway).
I agree he looks uncomfortable in front of the press but surely, as part of all those myriad coaching courses, he took a course in dealing with public speaking or similar?
I can’t see the point in sacking him at this time though, let him finish the season and see what happens during the summer.
That is, of course. cue for LP to ditch him Monday morning…
Fail from me, for the simple reason that he doesn’t seem to be trying to implement a style of play or have the ability to organise a team (look at set peices for example), or consistently get the best out of players. The team rarely looks better than the sum of its parts as a result, and that’s what good management is about. The real problem though is that I don’t see him being able to improve any of those aspects and that’s why I don’t get the comparisons with Smith. Smith had clear principles which he stuck to through poor runs, he improved players, and brought in players that fitted his methods. Smith, like other successful Walsall managers used his paltry resources very well but you hardly heard him mention that aspect, same with Graydon, Nicholl and even Dosh. Also people say Smith took years to build the team that was as good as the 15/16 one which is true, but he also had an instant impact by keeping us up in his first season which was no mean feat, and then improved the club’s finishes the next two seasons before taking us to Wembley. So there was always something tangible there to suggest we were progressing, I don’t see that with Clarke.
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I went poor. Take away any budget constraints he may have which limits who he can sign and judging him on tactics, team selections, interviews etc and he’s been erratic to say the least.
I’d not want rid though. He’s made mistakes, but hopefully can turn it around. In his defence I think we are a club that can send anyone loopy.
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I’ve gone requires improvement. I said mid table at the start of the season and we are there or there about. It took dean smith years to create a winning formula, we are half a season in. If we aren’t challenging in the play offs next year then I’d say we are poor. At the moment I’d Just like to see more consistency in performances and team selection
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This, all day long. I can accept what is happening, Rome wasn’t built in a day. What I want to see is a blueprint of how we are looking to move forward, a style of play, investment in the kids etc. Something to hang my hat on and think that is why I’ll renew again next season. At the moment I’m struggling to see why I should invest again because Pomlett and Clarke aren’t giving me reason, or enjoyment to want to.
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Choosing between D and E, I chose D. I don’t know how financial side impacted season, so I can’t be too critical. Of course there were mistakes, but that’s not a bigger issue. Every manager had them, but how you react, can be. But if next season will be similar, few points more, few more comments bout budget or ‘weak minded’ players and sauce of tinkering everywhere, it’ll be close to F.
I chose failure because, after this many months, he should have some idea of his best players and those who need to kept well away from the team, he should have some recognisable style of play and he should be able to communicate some kind of blueprint for the future.
I actually don’t want him sacked though. But I very much hope that pomlett, as an experienced manager in business, is asking these questions, supporting his manager but also focusing him on these important issues.
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I gave him a ‘U’, based on 30 years experience marking scripts where candidates answered the question they wanted rather than the one asked. That’s how I see him as a manager, all these badges so he must apply them irrespective of the raw material he’s working with in League 2 footballers.
He’s had my full support from day one, but I’m now losing faith.
Based on recent performances, team selections and tactics I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.
D-.
Simply not as good as I thought he was going to be.
I thought he was going to be a maverick attacking coach but it’s been the complete opposite.
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The thing with mid table finish is it’s a very wide margin. You could finish mid table in 10th, 3 points off 7th and playing swashbuckling football with strikers scoring 20 goals and so only requires an extra 2-3 players to properly challenge the next season.
Or you could finish 15th, 20 points clear of bottom 1/2 but miles off play offs and miles off any sort of consistant winning formula.
I think it’s pretty clear from what we’ve seen for 2/3 of the season which mid table finish is more likely.
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Walsall FC isn’t historically a very successful football club. But reference to that same history going back 60+ years since the inception of a 4 tier football league shows that mid-table division 4 is the lowest we have ever been. Some, indeed lots or people think this is ok this year, personally I think its crap. Its not as crap as some nighmare scenario where we get relegated into non-league, but why should that be the case given that we are a solid 3rd tier football club with a decent hardcore of support, apparently good off the field income resulting in small profits made year after year? We should be nowhere near the bottom end of this league, the fact that we were earlier in the season is shockingly bad, and mid-table isn’t much better.
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We currently lie 15th. This may change (and at the moment I sadly see it heading only in one direction). Our lowest finish in 60 years beckons. This just strikes me as utterly dismal. I gave him poor which seems to me as quite generous.
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Slightly disagree as I saw a club imploding during the back half of last season and genuinely feared a double drop. So I’m not that arsed about the league position because I didn’t expect us to be near the promotion places.
However, I’ve still gone “poor” because I see absolutely no concrete foundations being laid by the current manager. The youth team chap is giving me far more cause for optimism.
I could envisage us being lower in the league but still scoring the boss higher if I saw the emergence of a plan and was witnessing limited players improving their game. I see none of that. I hear Clarke hanging them out to dry most weeks after asking them to play alongside another team-mate in another formation.
These are young men operating towards the bottom of their profession on money that is right at the bottom of their profession. They need certainty in the way they play, the things they need to drill, the men they will be playing alongside and the formation they will play in. Their short careers in the hands of a man who adds complexity and confusion on top of public beratings.
In an alternative universe I could see us lower in the league but me reflecting on a group of young men who had taken their time in learning the way they needed to play but were now getting better and better and a feel good factor returning to the place. As it is, they look like a group of young men who are all a bit lost. Trying their best but lost.
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I thought he was going to start off slow then it would all click into place and everything would be plain sailing, not start off slowly and tail off.
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What he said