Walsall blogger Mark Jones recalls the first half of the season in the first of a two part series chronicling the story of 2008/09.

So we end the season quite appropriately in 13th place.

A lacklustre final day display and the subsequent lower half finish making sure that no-one should get too complacent about the size of the task facing manager Chris Hutchings over the coming months.

After a lengthy period of painstaking research carried out just before last orders, I’ve come up with the bestest and worstest Walsall F.C. moments of 2008/09 – you can work out which is which.

Starting with 2008: -

Cup Disaster

Darlington at home in the League Cup was a banana skin for sure but equally it’s the kind of fixture that we should be winning, especially after taking an early lead.

Unfortunately Michael Ricketts’ red card gave him the first of his three ‘rest breaks’ for the season and we capitulated. Poor.

Crewe away – Very Poor

If there’s one team we didn’t want to lose to it’s them. 2-0 down at half time, we were truly shocking. Yeah we fought back a bit in the second half, but it was simply not good enough.

The true nature of this pathetic performance was highlighted by the fact that Crewe only picked up about six more points up to Christmas.

Still at least we won’t drop any points there next year.

Brighton away – The Magic Nine

The start of the season wasn’t all bad though, we actually won five out of the first eight and even briefly flirted with a play-off place.

The highlight of September being the nine man win at the Withdean Stadium, a performance of spirit and character reminiscent of the days of Sir Ray Graydon.

With Rhys Weston walking after a quarter of an hour and Netan Sansara following 15 minutes later a severe rout looked on the cards.

But the nine dug in, worked tremendously hard for each other to keep the Seagulls out, then even had the audacity to go and notch one before half time.

In the second half they worked even harder to protect the lead and fully deserved the tremendous ovation they received at the final whistle. A top day.

Peterborough at home – Reality Bites

The good run was ended at the start of October when we were outclassed by Posh. This was followed by a dreadful two goal throwaway against Hartlepool and a general downturn in form that highlighted the shortcomings both of the threadbare squad and the manager.

Star Stories – Jabo and Clayton

Striker Jabo Ibehre and goalkeeper Clayton Ince have been our two best players over the course of the season in my opinion.

Clayton deservedly won Player of the Season, is easily one of the best keepers in the division and probably just about the best Walsall are likely to afford.

If he’s not turning out in our new goalkeeper’s jersey in August, then I fear the club is going nowhere.

Jabo might not get enough goals but his attitude, work-rate and a killer first touch make him an asset to our team. Recent performances have suggested that the management are able to get the best out of him, so hopefully he’ll still be here next year too.

Cup Disaster – The Sequel

They were bottom of the whole Football League all season but that mattered little. Luton wanted it more, they out-thought and out-fought us.

The Hatters ended up going all the way to Wembley and lifting the trophy, it was just a shame Ian Roper wasn’t part of it on the day.

Cup Disaster – The Trilogy Complete

From November 8 onwards, we were concentrating on finishing in mid-table thanks to another tepid home cup defeat.

Sure Scunthorpe played really well on the day, but we were abysmal in front of the lowest home crowd I can ever remember for a Saturday match or an F.A.Cup tie.

Then it was bye bye Ishmel Demontagnac.

Last Minute Nightmares – Parts 1-11

OK, so in reality it was ‘only’ 5 times – against Luton, Oldham, Huddersfield, Millwall and Tranmere – that we actually snatched late defeats.

But it was becoming beyond a joke. Interestingly we haven’t lost in the last minute once since then-manager Jimmy Mullen departed.

Bye Bye Jimmy

Seemed like a decent enough bloke who tried his best but who just wasn’t up to the job. Was it actually Mullen’s fault that he was appointed in the first place? I think not.