Smith leads support for under-fire Saddlers boss
Wednesday 29th September 2010, 11:27AM BST.
Manny Smith today revealed Walsall’s players are desperate for boss Chris Hutchings to stay after relieving the pressure on the under fire chief.
The defender dedicated last night’s 0-0 draw at Leyton Orient to the manager as the Saddlers earned their first clean sheet in 22 games to stop a run of six straight defeats.
A point wasn’t enough to escape League One’s relegation zone as they slipped to 22nd in the table after a run which has piled the pressure on Hutchings.
But Smith insisted the whole squad support the boss and assistant Martin O’Connor and said they can turn the season around.
He said: “We want them to stay and we enjoy being around them. They have worked with us for a long time, they know what we’re about and what we can achieve – they know what to expect from us.
“We do owe the gaffer and I owe him because of my contract. He’s encouraged me and made me a better player. I owe it to him and really want him to stay. They did a great job last year and we haven’t started so well this year but you can say that point was for them.”
The defender also admitted the manager was right to slam his defenders as a “joke” following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Hartlepool and insisted they responded perfectly last night.
He said: “He had the right to say it because we’re his team, he puts us on the pitch. We work hard in training and for us to give away silly goals is disrespectful to him because he’s worked well with us and we needed to pay him back.”
And the 22-year-old is now eyeing Saturday’s visit of Yeovil as the Saddlers aim to build on a morale-boosting point.
He said: “This is the platform now, if we go into the game on Saturday and lose then last night was a waste of time. The boys worked well from front to back and there is no point in losing or conceding on Saturday.
“We haven’t had a point in ages and spirits are up now.”
UK Sport
Latest Blog — A week is a long time in football
This time last week we were staring down the barrel, third from bottom with a worse record than at the same stage last year, writes Saddlers blogger Mark Jones.
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First time I’ve ever heard a player dedicate a 0-0 draw to someone hahah!!!
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In this photo we see CH explaining his defensive plan to Mannny Smith. This little piggy went to market….
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We are getting deeper and deeper into trouble a nil nil draw against a very poor side act now..
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as Roy Castle once said, “dedication is what you need”, I think he was talking of another type of dedication though.
Of course Smith and the rest of the team are behind the manager, it’s the safest way to keep out of the firing line.
We were under a lot of pressure for the majority of the game last night with very little going forward, sideways or even backwards.
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Saturday is a massive game for our season and the Walsall career of one Chris Hutchings! A point will not even be enough I am afraid.
So if you have ever been a fan/supporter of the Saddlers, get down to The Banks’s and get behind the team?………they need all the support they can get!
If we still lose, then it has to be game over for the current management regime.
UTS!
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I’m not a fan of Chris Hutchings but believe their is no advantage in getting rid just yet, I think it will be closer to Christmas before anything happens. What I would say however is if we don’t get a result Saturday we need to start putting the feelers out and seeing who’s available. Lets get a shortlist together meaning if/when Hutch leaves we hit the ground running.
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I agree with you Craig – we should give Hutchings and his team a chance – they seem to want to back him. The games we have lost this season have usually been by the odd goal and so we are not too far away. The worrying thing for me is the lack of an experienced spine in the team: goalkeeper, centre-half, central midfielder – I would like to see a gnarled, experienced, “competitive” midfielder who would be a leader on the pitch – we need someone like that to help the kids in the team when things are going against us. I would give Hutchings and O’Connor 4 or 5 more games to get it right – if they don’t then we should look around: Mark Kinsella anyone?
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Chris, if they are dedicating a 0-0 draw at Leyton Orient to you, we are in trouble
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I agree with you in some respects Saddlertd. That said, I fear that without the experienced head(s) you refer to, we’ll struggle to get out of the rut we find ourselves in. The likes of Lescott, Richards, Gray, Byfield and Macken really need to start playing to the best of their abilities as they’re definitely not at the moment.
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hutch out saturday if we lose. Pardew in as manager.
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saddlertd will b 2 late by then..
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lol – too late for what? Too late to mount a sustained promotion challenge (cough, splutter!) – probably yes, but not too late to stave off relegation and hopefully mount a half-decent FA Cup run – getting to the 3rd Round would be an achievement. I think you need to give the management team 10-12 games at the start of the season – if after that we see no improvement then it’s time for a change…..and yes, Alan Pardew would be good but probably out of our price range – what’s Jimmy Mullen doing these days?!!
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Charlie Blakemore of Chasetown might take the job good manager…
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