Analysis of Walsall 2 Wycombe 1

It is a well trodden path but the trail does not always take you where you want to be.

Walsall's mid-table safety is assured, the season all but consigned to history and now thoughts turn to the future. But the anti-Jeff Bonser banner which showed the natives are restless will not have the desired effect.

It will not have any bearing on whether a West Midlands sugar daddy comes sweeping into the club. It will not force the chairman to quit.

Everyone wants success but there are degrees of it and now Walsall have reached the 51 points mark, thanks to yesterday's win over Wycombe, that, for what the club have, is a success.

You should always push for more but how much do people expect with sub-4,000 attendances and a tiny budget? People are desperate to have their say, to release the frustrations, so it is refreshing to see something rise above the apathy for the first time. But it will not change a jot.

There are arguments for and against the current regime and the chairman's wall of silence to this newspaper has not done him any favours, but who paid the wages when there was no income?

While the players kicked their heels during a month without a game, bills and staff needed paying and there was only one place the cash was going to come from, the pocket of the chairman.

There are questions to answer and Mr Bonser will one day have to address them, but a quick flash of a banner will not unsettle him. If it gathers pace and presence, then it becomes a different beast.

As for the hastily-prepared flag against the manager, show me a man who will do better. It is premature and to an extent the jury is still out on Chris Hutchings. There is room for improvement but next season is when the pressure should be on.

Fans have been spoilt and quickly hark back to the heady Championship days where the club so valiantly punched above its weight.

They highlight Ray Graydon's shoestring efforts but football is now light years away from what it was then and it is ridiculous to compare the two. Walsall are not punching above their weight and are not punching below it - they are punching at it.

Commitment has rarely been lacking this season. In some games, yes, there have been questionable performances but that is not because the players actively go out and not try.

Some have questioned the passion, desire and motivation, claiming they cannot understand why the players have underperformed so often this season.

The cold fact is they would be playing in a higher division if they were more consistent. They know this. It is not an outrageous statement and that is why they go from the sublime to ridiculous, because they are an inconsistent bunch.

It is not as if the management prepared any differently before they won at Leeds or lost at Southend.

There has been little to smile about this season, it has been the slogan for average, and at times it is difficult to cling to what positives there are. Therefore, you can understand the frustrations but Walsall are where they are. That is not going to change with a brief protest.

Yesterday's win left them 13th in League One and Jon-Paul Pittman had already flashed one wide, before the Saddlers edged ahead seven minutes in.

Julian Gray's persistence won a corner to swing in a perfect ball for Manny Smith to power home a header from seven yards. It was the perfect start for the Saddlers, important after their recent troubles, but struggling Wycombe responded well without carving out any serious openings.

They were made to pay by a moment of quality from Gray midway through the first half.

Darren Byfield chased Jamie Vincent's long ball and found Alex Nicholls, who laid off for Gray to bend a glorious effort in off goalkeeper Tom Heaton's far upright. The hosts played out the rest of the half with the freedom which recent results had denied them.

But they had to rely on goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin's agility just after the half hour to stop Gareth Ainsworth from halving the deficit. The Irish youngster - growing in stature with every game - then saved from Pittman before watching Danny Bloomfield's strike whistle over just after the restart.

Steve Jones was eager to kill the visitors off and went close with two quickfire efforts, before nerves started to creep in and Wycombe made a game of it with 12 minutes left.

The hosts failed to deal with a routine ball into the box and Adam Hinshelwood stole in ahead of the stunned Gilmartin to poke into the corner.

Suddenly it was game on and the Saddlers were rocking. Smith and Mark Hughes both threw themselves into last-ditch tackles, while Gilmartin's save from Lewis Montrose was one for the cameras.

Wycombe's pressure after the break allowed the game to neatly sum up the season - a comfortable first half giving way to a bumpy second.

Next up, Tranmere Rovers at home on Saturday and we'll have to wait to see which Walsall team turns up - and if the banners return.

By Nick Mashiter