A week of two halves

Another cracking result last night at Yeovil confirms that we're continuing our impressive push up the League One table and we're now not only right on the tails of the play off placed teams but within striking distance of establishing a place within the top six, writes Walsall's Sporting Star columnist Darren Fellows.

As noted in previous columns I still have doubts as to us making our play off push last all the way until early May but long may this fine streak of league form continue.

Needless to say however, our cup exploits – or more to the point lack of them – continue to disappoint.

Indeed I don't think that it's an overstatement to suggest that despite our encouraging current league position last Saturday's FA Cup exit has still left a pretty hefty hole in the rest of the 2009/10 season.

Eliminated from all knock-out competitions before our advent calendars made it out of their cellophane again it looks like the next six months will be spent slogging out the remainder of a league season and bobbing around the upper echelons of mid table.

And while our league form is extremely encouraging in a season where the spectre of relegation battle looked likely before a ball had been kicked it is difficult to see where the spark or even glimmer of a spark is going to come from that will persuade the stay aways, the close to stay aways and those only just still bothering to take up the 2010/11 early bird season ticket offer that is little more than 12 weeks away.

The third round reward collected by Brentford in the shape of a home tie against Doncaster Rovers may not have been the golden goose that would have helped Jeff and Roy make inroads into to £2.6m debt that our wel- run club appears to have accrued or provide the glamour required to entice those aforementioned floating fans to give it another go but it does offer the home side with a decent opportunity to find their way into the draw for round four and with only 31 other balls left at that stage the chances on missing out on a much needed money-spinner reduce significantly.

That said however the defeat incurred at Griffin Park ensures there will be no easy solution to reducing even a small amount of our debts and given that we are already operating on one of the tightest budgets in League One, that the economic slump continues to ensure those sexy advertising boards the club spent so much time and effort into achieving planning permission for only advertise ourselves and that the slump in home support shows no signs of recovering it appears that a quick sale of a prized player or two may be the only significant debt cutting method available to the board.

Personally I truly hope that the key issue of debt reduction is explained to the attendees at the club AGM on December 14th. For once we could do without waffle, rhetoric and the all too frequent and unconstructive sniping at supporters groups who dare to ask questions that are remotely uncomfortable and be informed how and when we are to tackle the ever growing noose that threatens to strangle the life out of a football club that currently appears unable to dig itself out of the financial hole it dug itself into.

I'd also like to know if the board and owner expect the £2.6 million debt level to increase further before it reduces and if so how high do they expect it to go. And why after receiving so much money from those fateful sales of late January 2008 did the debt level only reduce by a five figure sum during that particular financial year?

On the pitch, in the League at least, the men Jeff appointed are letting their impressive results speak for them. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for results off the pitch and the time for answers has arrived.