Dean Smith backed for transfer market business

Coach Chris Nicholl today said managerial novice Dean Smith is just the man to exploit the summer transfer market and transform Walsall's League One outlook.

Having clinched an against-all-odds survival on the final day of the season, Smith has begun clearing the decks at the Banks Stadium with nine players cut from the squad in the retained list announced yesterday.

Former Saddlers boss Nicholl has been a silent partner in the backroom team Smith is eager to keep together if budgets will allow.

But he broke his silence today to offer a ringing endorsement to the 40-year-old boss who stepped up from the youth coach role to inspire a team rock-bottom when he succeeded Chris Hutchings in January's first week.

Nicholl said: "He had a good background in that he knew the way the club was set up and how it worked. He had that advantage over people.

"He was an inspired choice in so many ways. He knows the game. That's the bottom line; he knows his football. He knows what he wants.

"He had been watching them for a year or so and knew what to do. He knows the market. He knows who he can bring in and for how much — all that side of things is well taken care of.

"There is a huge turnover of players these days. It's the way the game operates, especially at the level we are working at.

"And Dean's knowledge will be invaluable in terms of getting in the right players. That is so vital for a club such as Walsall. He knows the market and it has certainly worked so far. I think Walsall is in very good hands."

Smith is eager to get the club looking upwards next season — and that means a challenge for promotion. Nicholl admitted: "The real test will be next year and Dean knows that; he knows expectations will be that much higher and that the job starts now, so to speak.

"But he's a likeable lad and I think the players will go with that. You can't have everybody on your side but most of them will like him."