First of all, I would like to say that yesterdays match against Barrow was one of the worst performances I’ve seen this season. We were lost on the pitch. All the promising signs I could see in the match against Cambridge has swept away and it felt like it was the first match of the season where no one has played together before.
Thanks to our inability to pick up points and score goals we once again find ourselves in a relegation battle. There is never time to feel relaxed as a fan of this football club. At this point, I would have been happy with us being mid-table and go into matches without pressure.
We have 13 games left this season and the feeling I have is that we can not drop much more points to be safe from relegation.
In January I genuinely thought we could fight our way into the playoffs, we were only six points from a playoff position, but Darrell Clarke didn’t get the team firing at all and we rapidly dropped points and dropped lower and lower in the table. Then he decided to jump the ship and go to Port Vale, who haven’t done great since Clarke took over. I think Clarke would have been sacked by Walsall anyway so this turned out a quite good deal for Walsall getting a compensation package from Port Vale instead of having to buy Clarke out of the contract a few weeks later.
Brian Dutton was promoted to caretaker manager until the end of the season. Not much has changed to be fair, we still have trouble creating shots on goal, we still do individual errors, the lineup and tactics change for every match. Thinking back this season I can’t recall we had a settled starting eleven any time this season. Players could have played very well in one match only to be demoted to the bench or left out the next match. A player could have had a good match but in the next match being played in a wholly different position. There has been no consistency shown from the management and this has continued with Dutton in charge.
As I mentioned earlier we have 13 matches to rescue this season and I do not think Dutton have the experience or the motivational skills to get the squad motivated to go out and pick up points.
I feel it is time for a change again. Bring in an experienced manager with good man-management skills, good tactical knowledge and motivational skills until the end of the season. Yes, I understand it will be difficult to find a manager with the attributes willing to take on the job. This time around I feels we have to take a bit of a risk financially to get the right person in charge because the risk to end up in the Conference league is an even bigger financial risk.
I’m not sure who should be approached but Leigh Pomlett should not be afraid to approach managers without a job that normally wouldn’t be interested in coming to Walsall. A deal until the end of the season a few months of work with payment for an unemployed manager could be a good deal for both parties.
Just as I write this article Walsall posted on their Twitter that owner and chairman Leigh Pomlett will have a video out on Monday where he will brief the fans about the current situation.