I really don’t think he will be sacked. We’re definitely going to drop and I think everyone - including the board - know this so they’ll stick with Keates and see how he will do next season. I think a large part is due to the fact the club are still paying Whitney and Sharps, so will not want to add Keates and his backroom team to that list.
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I can’t see him being sacked either. It would require payment.
If that is the case. And unfortunately I think you are both right…what a sorry state the club is… accepting not only relegation but turgid football and far from any chance of promotion for many years with a squad of players given long contracts who are simply not good enough!
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Yep! Welcome to the world of Bonser, Gamble and Mole, such an exhilarating experience😔
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Yes I’ve been pondering this. Perhaps if they shouted ‘beat the press!’ Or ‘get stuck in!’ At regular points during a game that would confirm to some posters on here if they are doing a good job or not…
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Reckon Jeff’s eyeing up a big payday from a local derby v Solihull Moors!
Others have alluded to it on more than one occasion. The only reason Whitney was sacked last year was due to the early bird sales. Getting a new manager in at this point now will make no difference as early bird sales are going to take a hit regardless.
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I think he will be gone if we don’t beat Bradford. Half a chance this coming week - but more likely after Bradford.
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Really? I’d have thought if he doesn’t go tomorrow, he’s not going at all. We’ve now lost 5 in a row, scored 2 goals and let in 10, including against teams right at the bottom. I’d have thought that, if he survives that, he’s staying.
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There is no chance we will beat Bradford. We are easy pickings and Bradford will fill their boots at sinking ship bescot.
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I think we need to accept that there’s gonna be some pain the coming years with the ownership situation.
So as fans we need to almost ignore what’s going on on the pitch and work on cutting out this cancer that the club has. I don’t know what’s going on with WFC supporters for change but it’s time to step it up a gear. I said this 2 months ago, but get nasty. Talking to Gamble for an hour over a cup of tea isn’t going to affect the leech.
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You have to start somewhere Phil,as you say a meeting with gamble won’t do a lot,but it puts down a marker.You have to plant an acorn to get an oak tree.
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Yeh and to tear down a diseased tree you have to stop the tree huggers hugging it first
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We won’t beat Bradfart. They tend to draw away, even against tough teams. One loss in five.
All I remember about Franksy that day was he was very tall and very nervous, a lot more nervous than me and I think that 's what made him nervous! He was just a young reporter back then. I was a very confident kid and Fellows Park was my play ground. I turned up wearing my usual matchday garb, Walsall tracksuit with loads of badges sewn on it and my favourite red, white and green scarf, he seemed very bemused. Even more so when he saw me to be on first name terms with David Whinyates and Paul Marston who I’d been pestering for years. I also knew where everything was in the press box as I used to sit in it doing “reports” at Walsall reserve games against the mighty Brereton Social, Shifnal Town, VS Rugby etc. In turn that meant I knew who half that team was from watching the reserves so I didn’t need to write much down, certainly not the line-up. the whole thing spooked him!! He also wasn’t very amused when I went nuts when Walsall scored.
As regards Rob Hawthorne, definitely a Walsall fan. Prior to entering the compo he’d worked on Walsall hospital radio, and he offered me the chance to take his slot when he started at Radio Birmingham. He was very professional even then, turned up to Pebble Mill wearing a white suite. I remember saying to my dad “who’s this, friggin Ian Ogilvy?”, for which I got a smack round the nut. I never got to take up his offer, because my dad being like many dads back then was a working class bloke who worked hard and at weekends wanted to do what he wanted. He wasn’t going to taxi me round if it meant missing the match or playing dominoes in High Heath club, that’s what he did and I respected that and I was too young to do it myself. So that was that, although I did later do some football reporting in non-league up here for the local “pink” and a few other papers.
Anyway Keates out! Just to stay on topic.
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IIt could be argued that Bonser is being loyal to a manager that he enticed away from his previous club with a 3 year contract.
It could also be argued that Bonser still has confidence that we will stay up by the skin of our teeth.
It could also be argued, as someone else posted, that sacking him now will not materially affect early bird sales as most supporters think that we are most likely gone with or without Keates.
Or it could be argued that Bonser doesn’t want to be paying Whitney, Keates and the respective back room teams for the foreseeable in addition to their replacements.
The March fixture list is brutal. We might pick up a few surprise points, but the problem is the queue of teams just below us. I’d say we’re down, even with quite a dramatic improvement in results. Since Luton at home we’ve got no points other than the random win at Priestfield.
Absolutely dreadful.
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That is a great story and pleased you were better than Franks!
If he is a Saddlers fan I really did mean it might be worth making contact and telling him some of your story from way back. His personal Twitter address is @SkyRobHawthorne
He must feel bad about the current circumstances at the Club and know of the heavy hand of the Rent Man as well. He might well have contacts in the Media or Sport world who might take an interest in the Club. I have been emailing a Member who was a VP at the Club BBR. (Before Bonsers Rent) who wants to help somehow. I have kept the WSC team aware of this.
As many have said on this board we need to find a way forward on Regime Change and each element of that helps.
If he isn’t sacked, for purely financial reasons, then that’s just another reason Bonser has to go. Trousering the rent & transfer pay days whilst allowing our current boss to take us down.
I adored Keates the player. Not the manager. Big shame.
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The only thing Bonser wants football wise, a quiet life in mid-table third tier. Occasional bit of cup/transfer money to help balance the books, and lashings of mediocrity to maintain a numb comfort zone of rent paid, minimal moaning, rent paid. Anything that upsets the apple cart, like threatening promotion, managers with ambition, OR relegation, do not fit his model and are generally not tolerated. I would suggest, the way things are going, we are not just heading for plain old relegation but “relegation plus”, an absolute meltdown that could threaten our own record breaking run of consecutive defeats, we already have five, with those March fixtures to follow the Bradford game. The national media have already picked up on our demise, every mention of us is laced with comments like “can’t buy a win” etc.
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