Walsall blog: Remembering Ray

Tuesday 22nd January - the exact anniversary of one of the darker days in Walsall FC’s history, writes Walsall blogger Mark Jones.

It’s been six years since the sacking of Ray Graydon and I’m dedicating both pieces this week to the man.

It’s fair to say that when Ray took over from Big Fat Jan in May 1998, the team were in disarray.

Come the start of the following season we were one of the favourites for relegation and it was hard to disagree with the bookies. 

At a Meet the Manager event two days before the start of that season, Ray openly admitted that some of the new signings were third or fourth choice targets adding that he didn’t care if they were tenth choices, he’d do his work on the training ground.

At the time it sounded like he was merely a stooge for the owner, toeing the party line about having no funds and making the best of what we’d got? How wrong can you get? 

What Ray did was introduce a simple yet brutally effective system of playing 4-4-2 where everyone knew their jobs and everyone was expected to pull together for the good of the team. 

His no nonsense approach may not have been to everyone’s taste - both Jimmy Walker and Chris Marsh have subsequently been critical of his methods - but they got the best out of a motley band of individuals. 

Ian Roper probably came in for more than his fair share of stick from the Sergeant Major Graydon approach but I don’t think he’d ever have become the player he did without Ray’s input.

And so what if he kept getting fined for being overweight? We pay a lot of money to watch our team, it’s hardly asking a lot for the players to at least try to keep fit is it?

By the time we were travelling back from that unexpected opening day victory at Gillingham it was apparent that the Graydon way could work and work well, no way were we going down. 

Six weeks later, walking through the matrix of backstreets and alleyways around Kenilworth Road after another away win, the talk was of an outside chance of the play-offs.

By Boxing Day we were disappointed not to go top ahead of Moneybags Fulham.

Whenever the team suffered a setback, we’d bounce back, usually stronger than before.

At the end of the season it was the other teams, the ‘bigger’ clubs (haha) Preston and Man City, who bottled it while we kept going.

Automatic promotion with two games to spare and Ray had become Sir Ray - Manager of the Year.

All the way through that season you felt that Ray had instilled a sense of togetherness, not just with the players but throughout the club and onto the terraces.

It was his promotion, it was the players’ promotion, it was our promotion too.

And Ray’s reward for getting a group of players who, on paper, were barely good enough for Division 2 into Division 1 was?

Starting the following season with a squad that was no stronger. 

Mark Robins? Tony Daley? thanks a lot Mr Taylor. 

I’ve no idea whether or not Graydon privately vented his fury at those in control of the purse strings but publicly he stayed positive and put his faith in his management skills.

As the season progressed, without ever admitting they’d got it wrong and sniping at anyone from fans to press to ball boys and tea ladies alike; the powers that be at the club started to bring in better quality players (Matias, Padula, Bennett et al) and Sir Ray began to work his magic again. 

Seemingly dead and buried as the new millennium began, battling it out with the League’s whipping boys Swindon for the wooden spoon, incredibly we took the fight to the last day with plenty of memorable moments along the way (Rambo’s goal celebrations at the Graveyard seem to spring to mind for some reason).

Ok so there was to be no happy ending and there’s no such thing as going down in style but there was a certain dignity in the defeat at Ipswich. 

I’ll never forget the emotion of those last 20 minutes at Portman Road, the fans knew we were down but we were not out.

We defiantly chanted each players name in turn before reserving the loudest shout of all for the manager.

Everyone recognised the job he’d done and would continue to do for Walsall. He was our man, already a Saddlers legend.

The post-match interview was typically Graydon, refusing to throw in the towel he proclaimed ‘we’ll be back’. As ever he was to be true to his word ?       

(to be continued)

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