Paul Jenkins - New Walsall E&S Reporter

Tbf Pomlett was no better, hopefully it changes moving forward.

Agree with a lot said here.

EnS gave us a fair bit of attention over the last 3/4 years which was goodā€¦ podcasts/ daily updates.

Now weā€™re back to where we were pre-masi.

Maybe its a budget thing.

Might be wrong here but I donā€™t think the E&S have any sort of exclusive access now in terms of interviews etc, sure Masi/Kean/Edwards did. Think Paul just has to feed off whatever scraps he can get from the website/twitter

Iā€™d give him a break purely because heā€™s been brave enough to open a line of communication with fans on here, deserves credit for that!

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No offence to Paul, but for me The E&S is a total irrelevance in these days of multi media and digital news feeds.

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I hope he doesnā€™t regret it.

We were spoiled with Joe Edwards who imo is best reporter weā€™ve had since Paul Marston so anyone would have had a tough act to follow. Great that Paul comes on here and happy to give him time. Little things would help, like someone says above Joe used to reflect what the fans thought, the reports should have the away attendance and the player ratings are a bit generous. But itā€™s a first (I think) E&S reporter whoā€™s had the guts to engage openly on here (although Iā€™m sure others have lurked in the background) which I admire him for.

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Enjoyed this from @Jenko1970 and hope it is the start of getting more background and in-depth reports where he has clearly done some background research and come up with something interesting for fans. The usual E&S approach (not just Paul but most other reporters weā€™ve had except Joe Edwards) of dissecting one interview and spreading it over 5 days is dull. So well done Paul for going the extra mile to produce something a bit different.

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Thatā€™s a strong line-up for Man Ure, only Ben Thornley was never a key player for them. Iā€™d forgotten Brian McLair was still with them, he must have been about 72 by then.

The ref is Paul Durkin isnā€™t he?

looks more like Neil Lennon

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Certainly looks like he loves his Choccy, inbetween pints :joy:

I feel sorry for him and feel heā€™s probably been thrown in at the deep end. He said himself heā€™s not all that clued up on social media yet itā€™s a huge part of the job, he should be getting help with that.

As for stories, the club donā€™t release much, and when they do you have to follow it as they want you to otherwise they can make your job very difficult and everyoneā€™s job is paying a wage to keep a roof over our heads/our families heads and put food on the table.

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Slightly off topic but ā€¦

Back in 2015 when we finally managed to get to play at Wembley for the first time in our history, one of the Manchester Evening News journos (may even have been the main or sports editor) was a Walsall fan and he wrote a Saddler-eyed view comment piece about us that got published in the paper.

I used to spend a lot of time working up in our Manchester office and one of my colleagues up there clipped the article for me that I had pinned up on my desk. Unfortunately, with Covid and everyone now mostly working from home, the desk I used to use has been ā€œcleanedā€ for hot-desking and Iā€™ve lost the clipping. :frowning_face:

Have any of our Manchester based fans got a copy? Or at least remember it?

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Donā€™t worry I donā€™t mind criticism it helps me realise what I am doing right or wrong.
I think we are doing some video analysis around the Swindon and Wimbledon games but I will be led by the digital guys on that. I have asked about the podcast but again wait to be led by digital.
I am just working as hard as I can and trying to be the best Walsall reporter I can but realise I will be open to advice (and criticism)- I am getting paid to watch football so can hardly moan at scrutiny.
With DJ, the question was asked at Presser today by WM (They always get first dibs) and the boss just said ā€˜No change before anyone else asks.ā€™ I asked him about two players who they couldnā€™t get this week - no names or positions he would give. So I do try with the scraps I have after the BBC get their five minutes . I pissed the media team off asking about Jamille Matt when an offer wasnā€™t confirmed but was proved right.
So I do try but realise I probably might not reach the heights of Joe Edwards, or Michael Beardmore for example who knows the club and people inside out.
Thanks to David Evans and others for their help with articles around the Leicester game and Jimmy Walker for being readily available, Matty Fryatt as well.
All I will do is my best and again, I appreciate feedback, good or bad lol.

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He is a legend and a walking encyclopedia on all things Walsall FC :grin:

See, itā€™s not an easy job. Even if you hear something they will hate you asking about it.

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@Belgiansaddler Never heard of him.

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@DanG_WFC @Jenko1970 Paul Marston told me once that if he dared criticize Buck in print (when he was a manager) or one of his players he wouldnā€™t speak to him for a fortnight! Heā€™d say hello to his daughter, who used to accompany him on away games and make small talk with her, but totally blank Paul out as if he wasnā€™t there!

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Fair play.

You have a tough job, under Flynn weā€™re a closed shop which is good but not for you guys, first time we hear of things is when players are signed or other news comes direct from the club very little speculation apart from with Matt, which may have come from FGR or his family/friends being local.

The other thing these days is we have our own media team doing their thing on social media and the website who like to the the source of all news, gone are the days of buying the paper of a night to see whatā€™s happening.

Anyway all the best

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