Bonser: We lost the plot

Chairman Jeff Bonser today set his sights on taking Walsall back to The Championship after admitting the club had "lost the plot" in the last four years.

In an exclusive interview with the Express & Star, Bonser promised to make up for those mistakes by equipping Saddlers to become an established Championship club.

And the Saddlers supremo also told how:

* The £350,000 Matty Fryatt transfer fee was "wasted" on loan players as the club "lost the plot".

* He believes Saddlers were in free-fall behind the scenes for most of their stay in the Championship.

* His relationship with manager Richard Money is totally different to his bond with Paul Merson.

* The club can stay in profit without selling their best players.

Bonser again admitted the two relegations in the last three seasons were down to a series of poor decisions that began right at the top.

"I was very disappointed with how it went last season and I felt I had made a lot of mistakes in the last four years," said Bonser.

"I'm not pointing the finger at Paul Merson because the problems had started before him.

"By the time Paul became involved on the management side we were already virtually doomed to relegation and we were suffering from the collapse of ITV Digital.

"I was determined after the last four years to get this club back to stability.

"I thought they were excellent managers for the club and when they went it was a blow for the club.

"Another blow was when Paul Taylor (now back as football consultant) left the club. Colin Lee decided that Paul wasn't the right man to work with and I think that was a very poor decision that didn't help in the long run.

"I think Paul would probably have kept us in the Championship and he and Richard are already working well together and combining their knowledge of players."

Bonser revealed for the first time the exact amounts of cash received in transfer fees for youngsters Fryatt and Julian Bennett in the January transfer window.

And the chairman admitted that almost all of the money - £350,000 from Leicester for Fryatt and £100,00 from Nottingham Forest for Bennett - was squandered in a mad chase for loan players that he now admits he should have vetoed.

"This club spent £383,000 in the last four months of last season on loan players, many of which didn't even contribute towards our efforts to avoid relegation.

"The plot was lost. We were bringing players in for the sake of it and that is where I feel I let the club down because I should have said 'no'.

"If you look at the loan players that were brought in, many of them were no better than the ones we already had and some of them were very expensive.

"I though that Grant Smith came in and did a decent job for us but it's difficult to see how the rest improved us.

"If I'm honest I think the money that came in for Matty Fryatt was totally wasted.

"It was wasted in an effort to try to keep us afloat and try to keep us in League One, but it was still wasted."

Bonser is now looking to the future after Saddlers finally returned to profit, making £69,000 in the last financial year.

And despite the income in transfer fees outweighing the club's profit, Bonser insisted selling players is not essential to keep the club in the black.

He believes better management and less waste on needless loan players will make up the shortfall if no money is made in the transfer market.

"But we're back in profit now and I expect it to be more or less the same this year.

"There were some difficult times and the ITV Digital collapse caused us some major problems.

"If it wasn't for some propping up by the directors it would have been a lot more difficult.

"Matty went for £350,000 and Julian went for £100,000 so you could say that if we hadn't sold them we wouldn't have made a profit.

"But, against that, we had a like for like situation the previous year when the club made £600,000 or £700,000 selling some land (for the new hotel).

"Selling players is the nature of the trade. It's what football clubs do.

"Both of those players came through a youth team that we plough a considerable amount of money into.

"The only way that we can continue to fund that youth system is to sell players.

"This year I would expect the club to be in profit whether we sell a player or not.

"The hotel deal was just a one-off thing. The club had control of the land in question as part of its lease and I was approached by a hotel group that wanted to use the land.

"I want to run the club so that it is in profit without selling players so that if players are sold that money can go back into the football budget and I think that will be the case this year.

"I would like to think we can make more and more profit so that we can build a team here and continue improving the football club.

"The purpose of the club is to make a profit so we can plough that money back into team strengthening and building better facilities."

Now Bonser is looking forward to the future after bringing former director of football Taylor to Bescot to work alongside new manager Richard Money.

And while he admits his relationship with Money will remain strictly professional, he is adamant he has the right man to lead the club on the field.

"I decided that this year I wanted to go forward with a guy who had proved himself at all levels as a coach, which Richard had, and had experience as a manager," said Bonser.

"Richard had managed in this country with Scunthorpe many years ago and he had enjoyed success as a manager both in Sweden and in Australia.

"He wanted to get back to England and he had a pretty good track record as far as I was concerned.

"Another man I have a great amount of respect for is Paul (Taylor), especially with his knowledge of players.

"He had success when he was here before, especially in the lower league.

"It's different when you're trying to attract players in the lower divisions but Paul has a lot of contacts and a great knowledge.

"I got close to Paul Merson because he had a few off-the-field problems which I was helping him with, or at least I hope he feels I helped him.

"He has a few demons that returned to him but hopefully he will be able to keep control of those things.

"I don't see a lot of him now but he is obviously busy carving out a new career for himself on TV.

"He seems to have accepted the fact that his playing career is over and he is playing to his strengths, which are his personality and his sense of humour.

"Every time I see him on TV I think he gets better.

"I probably don't have the same relationship with Richard outside work that I had with Paul, but what we do have is a close working relationship.

"They are two very different characters.

Bonser also spoke of his excitement at the development of the club's new training ground in Broad Lane, Essington.

And the chairman believes the new facilities will be an important factor in helping restore the club to the Championship - and keeping it there.

"If we're going to take this club forward on the playing side then we have to have the right training ground with the right pitches and the right facilities," he said.

"I believe that will make us a better club.

"I want this club back in the Championship, but next time I want us to stay there.

"We've been there a couple of times in the last 10 years and I want to taste that again, but when that happens I want to make sure this club has the facilities in place in establish itself as a Championship club."