Just one point: football is a team game not a collection of individuals. At present we do not appear to have any sort of team mentality. I suspect some of that is because DC changed everything so often, the players had no idea what they were up to; maybe there was also a lack of leadership on the pitch - missing Clarke maybe.
If BD can get them playing as a team, we might find that individuals start to impress more. And when Wes does beat 4 men in a dribble, there might actually be someone there for him to pass to, for example.
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Agree with you on this. This every match is a project approach must undermine to some extent the team ethic and when you put that together with a lack of leaders on the pitch you get problems .
Yes it’s a very sad indictment of the squad that every player could be released and I would have little concern about any of them. Obviously Holden has “something” but I certainly don’t want the entire formation and gameplan based around him.
As I said earlier the White’s and Osadebe’s of this world are just a complete waste of money and I just don’t “get” why such “filler” is ever considered.
After the Keates and Clarke transfer record debacles, you would think - hopefully - it would require incredible incompetence for said record to get even worse under the next Manager.
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I believe the board has to get the next manager right. I know we say that with every managerial appointment the club had made lately.
The jury is still out on Dutton, I would be surprised if they gave him the job, it would be the cheap (and cop out) option but not the right move imho.
It difficult to find that quality person who hasn’t already been lured away by the larger purse strings other clubs, but occasionally, one finds a diamond in the rough like Dickie Dosh or Sir Ray.
One thing liked about DC was his ability to see potential in a player and develop it into what we saw in Eli and Holden and Gordon.
This next appointment has to be the correct one if we’re to move forward out of this division. We have to have a nucleus to build from. We tried complete clear outs, look where that got us.
Now is the time to try out our youngsters and the players we have on loan, there’s nothing to lose.
I don’t understand why we sigh players on loan and don’t use them, just a complete waste of time. I know we’re getting free loans but we’ve got to use them.
Here’s my diamond in the rough:
Lee Carsley, current England under 20 coach.
Did more than a decent job at Coventry and Birmingham as caretaker. Good age, has local knowledge and eager to find first managerial job in the football league, I think we would be a good fit for him and he for us…Good player too.
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… and Lee Carsley’s father, Frank, used to play for Walsall, too.
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It’s league 2, so it’s inevitable that we will have carry some crap players. However what we have lacked over the past few years is some genuine talent/quality.
Big decision for LP in the summer, stick or twist.
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When was that? Presumably before my time, as I don’t remember him.
The term crap is obviously relative and personal opinion, certainly we have a vast majority who would struggle to ever get another League Club.
I think it’s about approach and when you look at White and Odebese, you would have to question how anyone could see a reason why they would benefit the Club.
Players don’t “work out” sometimes for a variety of reasons (not always footballing) but recruitment over the past 3 seasons has just been so poor.
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And I doubt it will improve any time soon.
It would be difficult to imagine it could get any worse. You’d be talking complete and utter incompetence.
If it does drop even further then there is no doubt, we will be struggling right near the bottom.
Agree with much of this @davidusa. However, to give Clarke credit for Gordon seems wide of the mark. Granted, he did give him game time at the start of last season when Gordon couldn’t hit a bar door with a banjo; however, Josh’s best game as a Walsall player was when he ripped Peterborough apart under Martin O’Connor shortly after Keates left.
I believe that Darrell Clarke will sign James Clarke for Vale and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go for Scarr too, after his brace against them. Who knows, he might be able to secure Scrimaldo too!
My question regarding Carsley is would he leave the England set up for Walsall? The same could be said for someone like Boothroyd. I agree with an experienced Director of Football though.
Where do you think we would finish if we started next season with this current squad?
For me I’m struggling to see how we get out of this mess, We’re basically going into the summer desperate for a number of key players but no money.
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We don’t have to use the loan Players. After all bedding Players in for other Clubs is not something we should be doing. Although I suspect the real reason they hardly feature, is that they are not as good as the Players we already have.
However I totally agree with regards our own Youngsters-giving them a crack and supporting them is something I have been advocating for some time.
Thing is some players just get a bad deal from the fans for no real reason , Guthrie was the same now playing really well in the SPL and before any one says anything the SPL is light years ahead of the rubbish league we are currently in
This is the problem the budget will be even lower i fear.
Ye some truth in that, it’s very easy to look a poor player when your surrounded by poor players… If that makes sense 
I think the current squad would do well to finish in the top two thirds of this division.
I’m not suggesting Budget isn’t a factor because it is but the way it has been used, is just shockingly poor.
If and when the clear out happens in the summer, I find it hard to imagine an even weaker team next time around.
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But the Budget is not the only factor. Not dismissing it and you could be right - but we just have to do better.
Absolutely , Scarr not great but when he sticks to what he’s good at he’s probably as good as most in this league
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Guthrie played for us in League 1. Which is not a million miles away from the SPL. And he wasn’t very good over the two Seasons he was with us.