And didn’t score. Or vaguely resemble looking like a league 2 forward.
Just had a look on soccerbase and it’s now just 2 goals in 24 league two games for this club.
Now in pretty much every Walsall squad there’s always been at least one poor forward but that always comes with a caveat which is usually budget means you just need a filler once you get down to the 3rd or 4th choice pick.
Had it under Smith with guys like Troy Hewitt and Ashley Grimes. Clarke got in Gaffney and you also had the YTS kids on loan the next season, Osei-Yaw etc.
Difference is Matt is more than proven at this level for Forest Green and Newport. Also not on loan like a few of others but 18 month deal and one of the highest paid players at the club.
His signing has been a complete disaster and I expect him to be paid up as soon as January window opens.
In Newport he scored 14 in 43 games one season and 16 and 19 in consecutive seasons at Forest Green.
Their wide players could obviously cross a ball pretty well but he’s just looked completely finished since pretty much his first game here.
People endlessly obsessed with DJ starting or not means his woeful lack of impact has gone under a radar a fair bit when you consider the expectations when he signed.
Nowt against him but clearly just past it for this level. It’s embarrassing how much the club want him to do well & Sadler it seems, guessing because he’s from Walsall.
I like the bloke great striker for this level in the right system but hes now passed it , its actually quite imbarrassing to watch him play now cant even hold the ball up now which was one of his strengths it just bounces off him.
Djt was signed On a Low wage with potential and as backup
Matt was signed as a main striker coming off a brilliant year before signed for money and on a high wage
Matt signing is way way worse
We do have a way of making players look sh*t. Tyrik Wright plays for Plymouth now. Shade has had some form. I think Williams had drive and energy for his age, just couldnt score as many for us! He also had a good past record but I genuinely believe Williams would have scored goals this year.
Milan should of signed for us!
It must break him a little (Matt) that his performances have been so barren. He had high hopes for being at Walsall, so did we. Its a shame, a very familiar shame.
We do have a habit of derailing players or getting nowhere near their potential out of them.
It’s a running theme that comes from the ridiculously short term horizon we have had at our place for some time.
When you’re looking for a player, you must surely start with “we play like this, so that individual would fill that particular role beautifully within our structure”.
Not since Smith have we had a “way”. We try to play a different way each week so knowing your job and how it fits into a broader structure is impossible. Matt is the latest in Walsall FC’s own version of “what’s my line?” where everybody has to guess what job your supposed to be doing this week. I’m a lone striker, I’m part of a two, I’m starting, I’m on the bench. Just part of the latest manager’s attempt to throw the dice and come up with a winning formula.
So I’d argue that it is virtually inevitable that players coming to Walsall won’t be as good as they can be on a regular basis. Our swinging in between styles, formations, tactics and the once a year change of manager means they are unable to get into a rhythm of what their personal role and objectives are. And then harder still to keep improving on the aspects of their game that suit the demands of the organisation around them. The sort of things we all need to do our jobs well.
I imagine most Prem / Championship U21 teams have a better coaching and philosophy structure. Probably better training facilities. Probly a few with better stadiums and their players have belief in their abilities to succeed. They will likely mirror a way to play. Its why I think the EFL trophy is a bargin £5 ticket to watch some of these set ups walk over us.
The U21 set ups in this country are probably more professional and effective than our entire football club. The only thing we have is a fan base and an average history and the fact we mean somthing to a small percentage people in a big town. I hope were not becoming irrelevant.
