Here We Go Again (Part Two)

So the Olympic finale is to be put on hold to allow the once-mighty Saddlers to take to the field in the League Cup first round, writes Saddlers blogger Mark Jones.

Yes the new season kicks off tomorrow so I really ought to pretend I'm looking forward to it. But before we concentrate on 2012/13 I think I should say bon voyage, au revoir or good riddance to the departed.

I never really expected Ledesma to sign up, he had two short, exciting and important spells and we should just remember them fondly; even the great Usain Bolt has taken to copying his camera celebration. Ledesma will be good for Boro and Tony Mowbray will be good for him.

May's retained list contained a few surprises, I didn't expect Olly Lancashire to leave and I thought Kevan Hurst might've got a contract but there you go.

We also mourn the departure of Ryan Jarvis, our loss is Torquay's loss too.

Then the exodus really began …

Alex Nicholls – To be fair Alex's move to the Cobblers didn't exactly spoil my birthday celebrations. Things weren't quite working out for him at Walsall, he didn't score enough goals to be an out and out striker and he was never anything more than a forward who could play wide than a 'proper' wing man.

I also thought he never fully recovered from the nasty injury he got in the reserves early in his career which set him back for a long time (and although it seems like forever ago, the team was doing quite well when he was trying to make his comeback).

Dropping a level (in the company of ex-Saddlers Clive Platt and Asbo Ish) may be just what Nicholls needs, it's worked for Martin Butler and Matt Richards amongst others, I wish him well.

Ideal Scenario – Nicholls returns with Northampton for a cup tie, it goes to pens and Alex steps up to take the decisive kick . . .

Matt Sadler – I know it's a short career, I know players will follow the money, I can imagine Walsall will take as many short cuts as possible when it comes to wages . . . but but but losing a decent footballer like Matt still really rankles with me.

My anger is split 50/50 with an annoyance about what the current regime is doing to the club and at the individual who has no loyalty at all.

Walsall took a player who'd been League 2 the year before and put him in the shop window in League 1. On joining the Saddlers he called it a 'no-brainer'. If get-rich-quick non-league upstarts Crawley are such an attraction why didn't you ask them for a trial last summer then?

I had to chuckle when I saw that the manager who'd took Sadler to the delightful Sussex non-league ground had himself jumped ship; and to compound it, a left back who we were looking at to replace Mathew has since been on trial there.

Oh yeah and you shouldn't be allowed to call yourself 'Sadler' either. Change your name to Mat Crawler or Matt Rubishylittlenonleagueclubwhohopefullywillgothewayofrushdenanddiamondssoon or something.

Ideal Scenario – Crawley go bust (the fans can form a non-league AFC Crawley, I wouldn't want them to disappear completely) and Mathew is seen hitching around the M25 with a cardboard sign whilst inundating Deano/ROK with voicemails.

'Hi … err remember me ... its err Mat … Mat err Sadler … how's it err going … you got any err vacancies … please … anything? …'

jamie tank – Here's a story, I've disguised the identities to protect the individuals.

Roger X was a lower division centre half with a typical lower division club, we'll call them Wycombe X. He learnt his trade in the lower divisions. Scott X was a lower division centre half with a typical lower division club, err WFC X. He learnt his trade in the lower divisions too.

Roger X did well and earned a move up the ladder to … Cardiff X, Scott X did too and earned a move (controversially) up the ladder to … Coventry X, he even got an Under-21 call up too.

Then a PL club (Birmingham X) came calling for both and paired them together. They were phenomenal, earning plaudits off the pundits (e.g. Alan Hansen X) and even winning a trophy and qualifying for Europe.

Sadly Scott X got a nasty injury, the team slipped to relegation, Scott X moved on and was unlucky enough to get relegated again. That paled into insignificance compared to Roger X who after a £7 million transfer joined a club (let's call them Dingle FC) who also got relegated but boy did they do it spectacularly. Seemingly every week they'd get tonked with defending that looked like the back line were completed strangers, complete strangers with some kind of recognition disorder. Roger X, who was now the captain, played like a rank amateur and ended the season like a broken man with a drink problem.

Now ask yourself, if you were a promising young centre half, would you join the club that had done that to Roger X's promising career? Me neither.

Still think you made the right choice jamie boy? Sorry you are now dead to us. You no longer exist.

Ideal Scenario – jamie does whatever he needs to do for us to get some extra dosh and then disappears forever.

Alternatively this time next year jamie proudly leads an orange and black team out at the Banks's in a money-raising pre-season friendly … for the wolverhampton Newco as they prepare for life in the Conference North. (You've got to have a dream.)

Manny Smith – For me the most disappointing departure was Manny because he'd been at the club the longest, he'd become the player he is thanks to us, and of course the club and the fans had stuck by him earlier this year after his stupid homophobic tweets. Our reward for this loyalty – he scarpers off to Notts County and then has the audacity to describe them as a 'big' club.

FYI Emmanuel it's been 18 years since big club County have played at a level higher than us and the Notts giants have spent the bulk of that time in a league below.

Up until three years ago when their mysterious takeover occurred, they were scraping around in the bottom half of division four in front of crowds of 3000. Indeed one of the few times big club Notts would have seen that huge stand behind the goal filled would've been when we celebrated promotion there in 2007.

You remember that Manny? Don't tell me you left the ground that day thinking 'if only I could play for County 'cus they're massive'. You didn't.

Meadow Lane is quite a decent stadium for one reason only, Notts played in the final Division One season before the Prem started, they were one of three teams relegated who'd all officially resigned from the Football League, but the PL still gave them plenty of dosh. (Nowadays you'd suspect they'd be sent to the bottom of the pyramid.) It has a capacity of 20,280, last season they averaged 6807 (helped by having lots of room for teams with big away followings) which equates to bucket loads of empty black seats every game.

Ideal Scenario – Manny finds himself sat on one of the many empty seats at his big club for most of next season (not as fanciful as it sounds given his new club's Assistant Manager's disdain for products of Walsall's youth system). They decide to loan him out to Mansfield in the Conference, but a technical hitch prevents him from making his debut. The Notts neighbours have to play their utility man at centre half, he does well and Smith can't get a game there either. That'd give him something to write about on Twitter.

Lee Beevers - Ok so he wasn't the greatest player we've ever seen in WS1, but it was always good to have Beevers in different positions. He was a good pro and always gave his all, I was surprised he dropped into the Conference but good luck to him.

Ideal Scenario – Lee does a job for the Stags and even plays as an emergency centre half when a technical hitch prevents a loanee from big club Notts from making his debut, he plays well and the loanee can't get a game there.

At the end of the season Lee leads Mansfield back into the League. Always a decent awayday, we've missed them.

Daryl Westlake – Just when you think nothing else can surprise you, something surprises you. I hadn't quite worked out if Westlake was actually still at the club and then he was off – to Sheffield United of all clubs, and we got a fee for him. Astonishing!

To be fair to him, I thought Daryl was a decent enough player at League One level who'd maybe lost his way a little bit. No hard feelings though, good luck to him (except on October 23^rd and April 6^th).

I wish all the best to most of our ex-players but they are now the ghosts of Walsall FC past. Some may come back to haunt us but that's football. Some may well come back and flounder.

So we kick off 2012/13 with another reshaped squad, they are the new Saddlers. Long live the new Saddlers.