Walsall's problems haven't changed

Walsall blogger Mark Jones can see the same old problems arising from the Saddlers' recent losing run but still has faith in manager Dean Smith.

This time last week, I was writing about not pressing the panic button, two worryingly poor defeats later and I have to admit right now my finger is hovering over it quite a bit.

As things stand, it's looking increasingly likely that the bottom third of the table is going to be our permanent place of residence until next spring.

Given the huge progress made under manager Dean Smith last season, this is immensely frustrating.

However, maybe we all got a bit carried away after the Great Escape - the club has struggled to really compete at League One level, arguably our 'natural' home, for a number of years.

I still believe that Smith is the right man for the job, I have still got faith in his backroom team but they are now coming up against the problem that has faced pretty much every recent Walsall manager, good or bad, namely how to get the club out of the rut we've been in for the last decade.

For as long as I can remember, I have banged on about the reasons why I think the club is in it's current predicament.

The rent, a poor relationship with fans, the rent, selling key players at the wrong times, the rent, the failure to back good managers, the rent, some hopeless managerial appointments, it's been the same for a while.

The issue of the freehold needs to be sorted out as quickly as possible, followed by that of the ownership of the club.

For all anybody knows, a deal on the former might be imminent or the reputed interested parties might be miles away from a deal.

While we are stuck playing the waiting game, the club in general and the team in particular continue to suffer. And so do the fans.

Of course, there are always other options that could be explored if a deal can't be struck.

There's nothing to stop the landlords simply selling the land back to the football club over a fixed period of time for an annual payment similar to, or even more favourable than, the existing rent.

Short term, it would be unlikely to have any impact, but the benefits for the club in the long run would be huge.

And what about thinking outside the box for a change? The appallingly bad decision to separate ownership of the club and the freehold of Fellows Park around 1988-89 has held the club back for years.

Why can't the landlords simply use their funds to buy back the football club themselves, thus reuniting the two entities? That way the whole package could be sold together.

As far as I'm aware, legally there's never been any reason why either of the above-mentioned options couldn't have taken place years ago.

To be honest, I know exactly why both of these outcomes are unlikely to be considered and I think most people would come to the same conclusion.

Both require some sort of concession to be made to the football club. But, after two decades of paying rent, why shouldn't we expect something back for a change?

We don't ever ask for a return on our entrance fees, our season ticket money, our merchandise purchases.

Last Sunday, Dean Smith turned out for the Walsall All-Stars team at Rushall Olympic, in the game organised by the Supporters Trust in aid of the SANDS charity.

It says a lot about the man that he was prepared to give up his time on his day off to help out.

Dan Mole was there too and the club have donated a kit to the Trust team. Stan Bennett, Colin Harrison, Stan Jones and Albert McPherson were guests of honour.

Mark Rees showed his support too. Chris Marsh, Mark Taylor and head of youth Neil Woods all joined Deano in the All-Stars team.

Fans are making the effort, a lot of people associated with the club are making the effort, right now there are closer links between Supporters groups and the club than I can ever remember.

Somebody could learn a lot from what is going on at the moment.

That way the club might even have a real chance of competing once again.