Saddlers Social: Scott Laird is the key Walsall move

Richard Kendrick

Apart from one notable exception (the Scott Dann saga), the January window is usually quiet in this part of the Midlands.

I don't even think that bloke from Sky who wears the yellow tie even knows where the Banks's is!

He's certainly not been round these parts on a cold, wet January night, and he won't be this year either.

We do need to brush up on the squad, although the one we have is not being used to its full potential and the danger is that any new recruits may not be either.

Getting Scott Laird at left-back for the season is a must. If not, we need a similar amount of experience there. A centre-back to complete the set of four every squad needs and if Andreas Makris is not deemed good enough to play up front, then another striker is also needed.

Oh, and if Peter Odemwingie is seen hanging around the car park, tell him the market's on a Sunday!

Kev Paddock

The last few transfer windows have brought nothing more than fear to all Walsall fans but I think we can sleep easily tonight knowing there won't be queues at our door for many of our current stock.

With over £2m in the kitty, from the sales of Rico Henry and Tom Bradshaw, there is no reason we can't be pro-active in the window – but this is Walsall after all. Scott Laird signing permanently is a must, a more commanding centre-back is needed too.

Matt Pennington is back training with Everton so it's worth a go. A central midfielder with some oomph would also be good as we've never replaced George Evans. But a striker is top of the list seeing as though we have only scored eight goals in the past 13 games.

Dan Gilbert

With no game last Saturday, it gave us the much-needed opportunity to look at improving the squad. Hopefully Scott Laird will join soon. He's slotted perfectly into the team and I haven't heard many people mention Rico Henry at all, showing just how happy everyone is with Laird.

We could also do with strengthening upfront too, 26 goals in 25 games isn't good enough – although all we might need to do is give Andreas Makris his chance upfront! Hopefully we replace Kevin Toner sooner rather than later too, while Kory Roberts has come in and done well for the last two games, it wouldn't be right to stick with him. We could possibly do with a winger too, but with the 'one in one out' policy that Jon Whitney spoke about, I'm not sure that'll happen unless we rip up Franck Moussa's contract, I'll volunteer for that job if anyone from Walsall Football Club is reading.

Nick Etheridge

I'd like to say it's refreshing going into a January transfer window and not having to bolt the doors of the clubhouse to protect our prized assets, but it isn't.

The fact we are looking to strengthen in almost every position further highlights we have taken several steps back. The three jewels in the crown (among others) from 12 months ago have been gone for a while now and although Romaine Sawyers has been replaced by the equally-talented Erhun Oztumer, we have struggled to replace Tom Bradshaw and a lesser extent, Rico Henry.

The only way forward is to find a formation that gets the best out of the Turkish Messi, and build the team around him, much like Dean Smith did with Sawyers.

Tom Miner

With the transfer window open and some money in the bank, I expect to see some helicopters flying into the Banks's car park this month. Excluding the need to sign a left back, hopefully Scott Laird, my main focus would be in the offensive areas. Kieron Morris hasn't set the world alight this season, and with no other natural wingers in the squad, this would be my first port of call, but more importantly, let's get back to the model that has worked well for us before. Jon Whitney should be scouring the premier league youth teams for loan players that are out of contract come July. We get six months to assess their quality, take them for free at the end of the season, and sell them on a few years later. Romaine Sawyers and Sam Mantom were successful for us, and further afield, I'm sure Bonser would be happy with a £3m windfall that Oxford received for following the same path with Kemar Roofe.