Exactly not really in Bens (CEO ) hands really is it more the other Sadler and Benjamin I would suggest.
Well it’s an interesting debate.There seems to be a general boom in football attendances e.g Her Game Too. perhaps Walsallcrowds will benefit from this.
Then there are things like offering more facilities and improving accessibility. You’d think this would help crowds too.
Success on the pitch would help of course, but folk who start supporting Walsall for that reason may not hang around too long
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I can find no reason for optimism.
Unless Earing is fit and we sign 2 strikers, I think we’ll be lucky to get a point against Morecambe.
We may have a strong central defence and Liam Gordon, but without Comley and Hutch the midfield is light-weight, and we all know we aren’t going to score many goals.
It’s looking desperate.
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Been told our budget is bottom half from someone I’d trust 100% to be telling me the truth if that’s the case it’s going to be an uphill battle to achieve anything this season.
and you could argue that’s what the current standard of the squad actually presents as, a team designed to not lose/difficult to beat, rather than a team set up to win games. It would make sense that (speculation on my part only) that perhaps Trivela’s remit to Mat Sadler is to keep us safe in mid-table (we simply don’t know either way if this is or isn’t true) because our squad looks exactly like that, to good to go down but very much mid-table ordinary.
I have no idea what wages strikers are on, or our own club’s wage cap but for Christ’s sake every pre-season its the same, Strikers cost more…we are not prepared to go the extra financial mile that some clubs (notice I didn’t say all before I get attacked by the usual suspects on here) are prepared to do. As my late Grandfather would have said “it’s so ‘Blinkin’ obvious”… well it feels that way to me anyway.
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At the mo I can see a relegation dog-fight on the horizon. Suffering buyer’s regret on getting myself and my 2 lads season tickets now lol!
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Correct mate
After watching that game last night i fully expect a long hard season ahead.
We literally have nothing up front and look totally toothless to be honest.
I know daniels is out but they cut through our defence a number of times with such simple balls.
Once again you cant seem to look at us and see an actual game plan,we cant pass at all then just panic and bang it up the pitch to no one.
When watching last night if you had to guess which team was part time i think most folk would have said it was us
Think this is gonna be a hard watch again this season
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After watching last night i have had a rethink
I have changed my expectations to trying to stay up
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I said 16th but yes could easily be a relegation battle
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Well…all the noises upto date are that the squad is not complete and to be patient.
So I’m willing to do just that …however.
The one aspect of Trivela making me nervous is there (& Pombear’s) original description of themselves as “accelerators”.
The ONLY accelerator in sport is money.
Investment in the squad that matches or outmatches your rivals to gain promotion.
They have proven that they can identify the correct players. If West brom and Lincoln had been offered £500 000 each last season for Faal & Draper then they would more than likely be our players now.
The money is also wedded to ambition to really accelerate progress. Not to wait for Sadler as manager,Wragg as striker, to progress,but to get the best in class available.
The club I felt also showed an air of resignation to Issac leaving. “His release clause was triggered so…” that only gives the potential buyers permission to speak to the player. To accelerate progress we would be better in keeping our leading goal scorer. We match Bristol rovers wage proposal and add a little on top. New contract for Issac.
The business model for the team is sound…acquire young players and sell on,progress as we go…unfortunately we seem to be starting on a much lower Base than I imagined. The concept of " buy Draper for £500 000 sell for £2 million" seems logical. Where we appear to be is “buy Jelis for £20000 & a friendly and anything as a sale price is profitable”
Fingers crossed new strikers arrive and things look more positive. UTS.
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Totally agree with this 
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I understand the frustration @Midnightbear but to spend £500k each on two young strikers is incredibly risky when you’re in league two.
By way of context, clubs like Everton and Leeds are in a financial mess; Villa gambled very heavily to get promoted into the ‘promised land’ and Forest have had points deducted. In France, Bordeaux have just gone under. High risk strategies can bring big rewards but they can also bring about bankruptcy.
I know it’s a free website and not 100% accurate but Morecambe FC - Club profile
is worth a look. Not expenditure but TEAM VALUE is quite revealing. By way of example the Morecambe squad is valued at £2.2m whereas Walsall’s squad is valued at £2.6m - that’s the good news…
However, Crewe are valued at £4.3m - NOT because of financial outlay but success on the field. That attracts better players and creates a stronger reputation.
You mention Bristol Rovers but a league one club is valued at over £7m. This is why promotion can really help (obviously) the club’s finances. Yet they are competing with Birmingham City, valued at £43.6m so this is where the ‘incremental progress’ comes in because that is what we would be competing with in the next tier up.
At league two level, the higher value squads are over £4m. But every season, there is a Crawley or a Cheltenham that buck the trend.
ALL Walsall supporters are a long suffering bunch but even John Witney talked about the fans being that 12th man, because positivity can massively help the players.
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…. And a good manager.
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Like I said; the doom-mongers don’t actually know what is going on behind the scenes. I’m open minded; we have 11 days before Morecambe so let’s wait and see.
To consign us to a “relegation battle” before a ball has even been kicked is just overly-pessimistic in my view.
Just sayin’
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I genuinely don’t want an argument (there is so much sarcasm on this forum that recognising tone can be difficult at times) but I say in all sincerity that regardless of what you or I think of our current manager:
1.) he’s just been given a new contract so is unlikely to be jettisoned out if we don’t start brilliantly.
2.) Sadler has accepted the budget and the squad: would Crowley or Alexander have accepted the same coaching team, etc?
3.) Sacking a manager can bring about a temporary boost to results but, financially, we still have to pay up contracts (look at the situations we’ve had with Labadie, Wilko, DJ being expensive disappointments).
4.) Who would you want to replace Sadler? A lot of people mention Peter Wild (ironically the Frecklington Halifax link brought us Earing, Rushworth and even Rodney) but his style of play is certainly not free flowing.
On a far more positive note, I loved the photos you posted from Drogheda and genuinely hope that the team’s performance didn’t dampen the experience in Ireland for you and your family. I totally understand that the financial outlay from supporters brings an expectation that performances shall follow. I value your viewpoints on the forum, too, even if we don’t agree on everything. 
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No one wants to be a doom monger. I don’t want to. But no harm in realism. We all know that without some decent attacking players signed this could be a season of massive struggle. Early days re the Trivela ownership but no noticeable investment on the pitch… You can start to see the animosity slowly building against them
How does that person know what the other 23 clubs’ budgets are Killer? That would be the first question that I would ask if someone told me that.
Guessing from what we perceive others have spent relative to ourselves is different, and we can all have an opinion on that, but it doesn’t become fact.
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What a lovely post! Thats how to debate and thank you for your response.
I agree with all of that however… I strongly think Sadler needs a good start. I don’t think the fans are really behind him, and I think we can’t afford to play catch up (again).
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In broad terms agree with everything you’ve posted.
Again I’m only nervous haha not sceptical of Trivela.
Football as a business is a bit of a riddle. Yes I’d agree that signing 2 young (at that point) players for high fees is a risk.
But signing proven players is more expensive…Langstaff and Mullin would be less risky but more expensive. Risk averse or frugal?
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