New Walsall boss Jimmy Mullen today insisted he will have the final say on signings as he got to work compiling his first transfer hit-list.
Mullen will continue to work with football consultant Paul Taylor, who returned to the club with Richard Money in 2006 after five years away. But, while Taylor will remain heavily involved, Mullen is adamant he will have the casting vote on new faces.
“I’m the manager and the chairman has made it clear that I have a full hand and I should get on with it,” he said.
“Paul is a great help and and very experienced man and it would be foolish to not listen to him because he knows the game and knows the players.
“He is very knowledgeable in terms of players. There aren’t many players out there that Paul doesn’t know about.”
Mullen says he is keen to appoint an assistant manager, although the search for a right-hand man will take second place to recruiting new players in the new manager’s list of priorities.
“The staff here are fantastic,” said Mullen. “But we have lost a member of staff and that’s Richard. We will eventually bring in a number two but our priority is the recruitment of new players.
“That has to be the priority over the next few weeks. We let a few players go and they need replacing. We will try to get the players we know will strengthen us. League One will be tough, but we need to do what we did in the middle part of last season.”
Mullen finally landed the Saddlers job on Thursday at the third time of asking after applying twice in the mid-90s following his departure from Burnley.
“It wasn’t long after I lost my job at Burnley,” he said. “There were two times – one when Ray Graydon got the job.”
2 Comments
Dont forget its the free-agents list you need to be looking at Mullen!
I hope these comments mean that those who have sought to defend Richard Money’s appalling record at bringing players to the club by blaming all the rubbish on Paul Taylor, will now admit that they were wrong.