Express & Star

Walsall Walkthrough: A look back at January 2020

In the first of a new comment piece series, Walsall reporter Liam Keen takes a reflective look at January 2020 and the big moments from the month.

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The Walsall army take over Salford

January 4 saw the Saddlers continue their good form with a superb 2-1 win away at Salford. Goals from Caolan Lavery and Josh Gordon put Walsall ahead, before Brandon Thomas-Asante pulled a goal back. An exceptional Liam Roberts save in injury time helped the team keep hold of their lead and avenge the 3-0 loss earlier in the season.

The story of the day, however, was the army of just under 1,300 Walsall fans that took over the Peninsula Stadium.

Throughout the contest, the away end was electric. Packed into a standing area, with a small section of seats next to it, the Saddlers faithful created an outstanding atmosphere in a stadium that only holds 5,108 spectators.

It's a cliché in football but fans can truly be the 12th man to motivate their side to a positive result.

At times this season the Walsall crowd have pushed their team on, with the home win over Cambridge springing to mind.

Away from home, the attendances have been excellent at times and Salford was no exception.

It was the perfect storm, with cheap ticket prices at a stadium most will never have visited, which is only two hours away from the Black Country – and the fans took advantage.

Leigh Pomlett opens up on his first six months as chairman

In an exclusive interview with the Express & Star on January 15, chairman Leigh Pomlett opened up on his first six months at the helm.

He discussed the transfer window, his faith in Darrell Clarke after the October losses and his five-year plan for the club in an incredibly open interview.

For a journalist, it was refreshing to see a football chairman agree to an in-depth interview in the first place. His willingness not to shurk any question, however challenging they were, was impressive.

Pomlett was under no obligation to accept this interview, but he's certainly benefited from the reaction that followed.

A football club will always prosper under a chairman that is open to a conversation with the fans and media, particularly at Football League level and the feedback from the fans showed an appreciation for the refreshing approach.

The relationship between the fans and the board are improving every day and moments like this interview will only aid that.

There will always be the same comment that what he says has no substance to it, but on the whole the reaction to this piece was extremely positive.

Pomlett is now more regularly engaging with the fans through the club's media also and it can only be a good thing, when timed right.

Carlisle and Morecambe horror shows

After a relatively positive month, results came to a desperate halt at the end of January.

January 25 and 28 saw two of the club's worst results this season.

After losing 2-1 to Carlisle on December 29, the long away trip to Cumbria ended in the same scoreline this month.

The game was decided by two Carlisle set pieces, a free-kick and a corner, which handed them a 2-0 lead. Despite getting back into the game through a Mat Sadler header, Walsall failed to create anything meaningful in the second half.

Against a poor Carlisle side, their defending was below-par and their attacking threat was toothless. Ironically, Walsall were probably the better side, despite not putting in a particularly good performance.

Then came the mid-week fixture with Morecambe, which couldn't have gone more wrong.

Walsall started the game relatively brightly and when Wes McDonald won a penalty, everything looked to be taking shape.

But the winger then took the ball from designated penalty taker Josh Gordon and saw his effort saved.

Frankly, that was criminal from McDonald. He has been outstanding this season and deserves all the plaudits – and he was obviously feeling confident enough to take the penalty – but his selfishness has cost Walsall.

Had he scored, of course it would be a different conversation, but the responsibility should have fallen to Gordon.

What came after was arguably worse, however.

The team simply didn't perform against a very poor Morecambe side. Walsall, particularly in the second half, only came alive after going 1-0 down.

The second goal, which came in injury time, was the result of the Saddlers committing forward for an equaliser, and in reality can be chalked off.

Fans were rightly furious after Tuesday's game as it was simply not good enough.

Two very disappointing results and performances marked the end of Walsall's January fixtures.

The January transfer window

As the January transfer window closed, there’s only one way to describe Walsall’s business – underwhelming.

The month started in the perfect way for the Saddlers, however, as the club tied Wes McDonald down to an 18-month contract.

The 22-year-old has been excellent since joining the club on a six-month contract in the summer.

Negotiations between Walsall and McDonald started months ago, but it went down to the wire as the deal was done on January 7, just days before his contract was due to expire.

For the club to keep hold of a young talent like McDonald, who has been in the form of his life, was excellent business.

Sadly, Walsall failed to build on that early success.

Manager Darrell Clarke was open about where he needed to strengthen, a physical midfielder and two wingers – with the latter being the priority.

Within that, an ‘experienced’ winger was essential, with Walsall needing a threat on the right wing to balance the danger of McDonald on the opposing flank.

The arrival of 18-year-old Jack Nolan from Reading has been a largely positive one.

He’s shown glimpses of talent in his appearances this season and is certainly one for the future.

Unfortunately, he isn’t that experienced first name on the team sheet that the club desperately need for the right wing.

Five days after Nolan’s signing, Nathan Sheron joined the club on loan from Fleetwood Town on January 21.

On the face of it, Sheron’s arrival is what Walsall needed.

Despite having several options in the middle of the park, the team needed a bigger, more physical option to match some of their opponents in the league.

The 22-year-old’s debut against Carlisle went reasonably well and the utility man – who can also play across the defence – had some nice touches and added some height to the side.

Since then he has split opinion among fans after a poor performances against Morecambe, alongside a poor team display.

Overall, Walsall have failed to achieve their priority target of an experienced wide player.

Clarke was clear, that position was essential and Nolan was a development signing – he even suggested that if the right striker became available, he may be ‘tempted’.

But neither of those positions were covered in the window and fans are right to feel aggrieved.

The remainder of the season will likely see the club fill the right-wing gap with striker Josh Gordon, or even push Nolan into the starting XI earlier than expected.

Either way it’s a disappointment and the club will have to plug that hole for the rest of the campaign.

To end on a positive, Clarke’s attitude that he will only spend the club’s money for the right players, and not for the sake of it, may prove fruitful in the long-term.

Imagine where they’d be had McDonald not signed?