Saddlers review of the noughties - part two

With the first team about as active as a post-Chrismas turkey farmer here's the concluding part of what I think were the defining moments of the noughties, writes Walsall Sporting Star columnist Darren Fellows.

Happy New Year to everyone.

6. Gillingham

Seven eventful months after that Albion demolition Colin Lee's reign was mercifully concluding. His captain and superstar striker had been in and out of rehab, his midfield lynchpin was sulking in Spain, contractual issues meant his international centre half couldn't be selected, we'd signed players then failed to register them and we'd exited the FA Cup at our first hurdle finishing the tie with nine men as a lost dressing room descended into a decaying carnage. Fortunately for Lee, Jeff had only recently dried the ink on a sparkling new 3 year deal so he wasn't going to need another job interview any time soon. Not that this didn't stop him wanting to discuss his options with newly manager-less Plymouth Argyle however. Viewing this as a betrayal, the chairman's axe was quickly uncovered, sharpened, swung and, not one minute too soon, Lee was gone.

Gillingham's Preistfield Stadium witnessed the last rites of this period as one of our rivals at the bottom of the division brushed us aside with embarrassing ease, scoring only three of the huge amount of chances they created against a Walsall side who simply pitched up and disgracefully unfurled the white flag once they went behind to an early Gillingham goal. With the players tunnel at the side of the visitors terrace Lee felt the full force of a Saddlers faithful who'd finally lost patience with Lee's expensively assembled failing army of mercenary dial-a-midfielders and could-do-better loanees and trialists. Colin's pathetic post match offering of "We needed a Martin O'Connor out there" only served to emphasise how desperate things had become and was most certainly not lost on those of us who remembered that Lee had replaced the very same player with the hapless Simon Osborn only six months earlier.

The middle to late part of the decade provided some stiff competition to this 'performance' but given the resources at his disposal and the money spent on this particular squad, a game that for but the heroics of James Walker could have ended 8-0 gets my vote as our worst single showing of the decade.

7. Slough

The name Chorley never fails brings out a chuckle or two and I guess that for a few years fans with Albion persuasions felt the same way. One pathetic afternoon under the Heathrow flight-path changed all of that however. Indeed with buses ferrying fans to and from the car parking facilities at nearby Legoland it was kind of fitting that remnants of the plastic team built by Paul Merson's predecessor ensured that their most embarrassing result came at the hands of a non league side based a mile away from so much Lego.

Shamefully, the opportunity for a carefree Chorley chuckle ended as the referee's whistle added our name to the list of sides humiliated in the greatest cup competition of all. To be fair I still chuckle, but now there's that embarrassed worry gnawing away in the back of my mind that desperately hopes that we don't get round to talking about the Slough fixture. On the bus back to Logoland there was a stunned almost unbelieving hush, as no-one seemed ready to accept that they'd just witnessed a horror show of x-rated proportions. Indeed the two forward players in Saddlers shirts who watched their overweight 38 year old former alcoholic manager sprinting past them in desperate search of a late face saving equaliser should be haunted by that sight for the rest of their days. They like most of their team mates that afternoon were a disgrace.

8. The appointment of Richard Money

After the mess of the previous couple of seasons Jeff went back to basics for our first campaign in the Football League's basement in a dozen years. The last time we'd been relegated into the basement division it had taken five long years of struggle to get out again. Burnley took seven and Bristol Rovers six.. The warning signs are always there - if you don't get out early you're in real danger of an extended spell in the division of doom. Looking at the finances, in hindsight it appears that Jeff realised this and whilst not quite going for broke certainly decided to arm his new manager with a budget that gave him every opportunity of escaping at the first time of asking. He also shrewdly recruited the best manager he's had since Graydon, a man with similar principles to Sir Ray with organisation, respect and hard work being the cornerstones of what was eventually a hugely successful campaign. Under Money we were magnificently drilled, organised and disciplined. We defended like our lives depended on it, attacked with a real cutting edge and for the first time in years we actually looked like a football team. Equally importantly however was the fact that the divisions created by the dismissal of Ray Graydon and the employment and retention of Colin Lee, Paul Merson and Kevan Broadhurst were healed. We finally had a man and a team we could all get behind and for 18 months we started moving forward again.

9. Darren Wrack's equaliser at Milton Keynes

Starting the season hotter than a bush fire in the Aussie outback our former Newcastle Jets manager Richard Money had led us into and out of the Christmas period in magnificent shape. After leading the table from late autumn a string of iffy results combined with an impressive unbeaten run from Hartlepool left us with a tricky live TV date at Milton Keynes . Late into the second half at the National Hockey Stadium we found ourselves 1-0 down and in danger of blowing up in front of the nations TV screens. In marathon parlance we'd led for the most of the first 20 miles but were looking a bit leggy and feeling the effects of hitting the wall. Darren Wrack's late equaliser gleaned a point from a game that we fully deserved to win but could quite easily have lost and proved to be a pivotal moment in that particular season. From this point we never looked back and six weeks later were celebrating our achievements on the upper deck of an open top bus.

10. Notts County .

The romantics will suggest that it's best to win promotion in your own back yard, in front of your own fans. The pragmatists, and Richard Money was most certainly one of those, will suggest ticking that particular box as soon as you have the opportunity. Indeed with the best part of 4000 Saddlers fans packed behind the goal that Trevor Benjamin broached late in the second half it was like a home game anyway. Kevin Harper got the first, Notts pegged us back before Benjamin eliminated the need for mathematicians. 2-1 to the Saddlers, mission 1 complete and Money's initial task accomplished. We are going up.

11. 16:54 Sat 5th May, 2007

At this moment Dean Keates swung one final left leg at the 2006/07 season, boot met ball, ball met net and thousands of Saddlers fans behind the goal went absolutely mental. True, Hartlepool's defeat meant that we'd have sneaked the 4th Division Championship without this particular goal and I'd be the first to accept that any championship is a championship earned but to have won it in defeat wouldn't have been quite right. Deano's last gasp injury time rocket ensured that a truly magnificent season concluded in the right manner. I suspect that this was the final time he ever touched the ball in a Walsall shirt and was therefore the most wonderfully fitting way for a Walsall born boy move on. Probably THE finest single moment of the noughties.

12. The Sale of Scott Dann

I guess that we could all could accept the Daniel Fox transfer had we not capitulated at the first sight of a few quid and to the whims of a star struck 21 year old who should have known better. Too sell them both however was unforgivable. On the pitch Richard Money had built upon the success of the previous season's promotion and after an iffy start we were absolutely flying. Unbeaten since the leaves on the trees turned brown, and on the back of an incredible backs to the wall, faces into a hurricane away win at Yeovil Money's side found themselves positioned comfortably in the top six and staring down the barrel at the very possible opportunity of an end of season four way play-off shoot out. For the first time since the Graydon miracle we were on a bit of a roll and looked relatively convincing.

One weak decision to cash in on our two defensive starlets not only ended thoughts of progression in the league but also cut the cords of trust and respect for many fans. The play off spot frittered away by the decision has never been recaptured, attendances have plummeted to truly embarrassing if not shameful levels and we lost a respected and proven manager at the peak of his powers. Two years on the fans who gave up on the club after this decision haven't returned, nor has the credibility of those who made the decision to trade and promotion to the Championship looks much of the next a decade away.