Saddlers Social: Walsall fans give their views on the upcoming summer transfer window

Ian Newbold

Because of the secrecy surrounding contracts at Walsall, we’re not really sure who we’ve got committed for next season.

Liam Roberts, James Clarke, Dan Scarr, Zak Jules, Callum Cockerill-Mollett, Liam Kinsella, Stuart Sinclair, Alfie Bates, Wes McDonald, Caolan Lavery, Josh Gordon, Elijah Adebayo? Perhaps?

Many of this season’s crop may be out of contract, like Facey, we simply don’t know. Of the loan players I’d try to retain Rory Holden, and possibly Jack Rose. The other couple can go back.

So on that basis, we will need more full backs, to strengthen in midfield, and again, we still need to add at least one more winger.

We will also have to plug gaps made by any potential leavers. Gordon will have his suitors, as I’m sure will McDonald, and we won’t be Holden’s only option.

Not expecting a mass cull and replace exercise for 2020/21. Instead I’m expecting to read “all quiet at the Banks’s Stadium” in the E&S transfer rumour column a lot this summer.

Chris Saunders

Looking towards next season is difficult for some reasons and obvious for others. It’s clear we need a couple of players who sit behind the forwards and can unlock defences and create chances. The biggest problem is with players coming into form like Elijah Adebayo and Rory Holden it can change things, add to this mix however that Holden is on-loan and it makes planning slightly more tricky.

If we can get Holden on board next season, a midfielder or winger who can relieve pressure off Wes McDonald would be a priority. Also, we could do with one more solid defender just to sure things up at the back.

Apart from Josh Gordon, McDonald, Dan Scarr and the youngsters I wouldn’t lose sleep if any players left as long as they are replaced by equal or better and I think that will give us a good chance to compete. I wouldn’t like to see wholesale changes however as I believe consistency is key to a challenge.

Robert Dearn

We are now in March, and fast approaching the end of the season. Many fans will be glad to see it over, as it has panned out to be an end of season, that hasn't been worth getting excited over.

Next season, I feel there are, of course, tweaks that need to be made in the transfer market. For me, there are four key positions we need to recruit in. We need another winger. With only Wes McDonald and Jack Nolan on the books, we are lacking out wide, especially with Nolan only playing a few minutes of professional football.

I also feel we need that ball winning, physical midfielder, as Nathan Sheron will be returning from his loan spell at the end of the season. Next up, a striker. Elijah Adebayo has proved that we have three good strikers at the club, but we desperately need a fourth, however I would be happy to see a youth player take up this role.

Finally, a left-back. Cameron Pring will not be a Walsall player next season, barring a miracle, and Callum Cockerill-Mollett will need someone to compete with/play if he is injured.

All of these are before anyone leaves, and lets hope they don't.

Rob Harvey

A free weekend you say? Never. I headed off to Bilston Town vs Pershore and was treated to a wind-affected game that Pershore won 2-1 with the last kick of the game. I believe Walsall are sending a squad there for pre season so lets get as many there as possible, they're a great little club.

Anyway, I digress. Walsall's game being called off has given me the opportunity to look at the summer for us and which players I would keep and let go.

Goalkeepers - I would be happy to keep both Liam Roberts and Jack Rose, and Darrell Clarke has said they were looking at Rose closely as he's a local lad too which helps. Youth team keeper as back up.

Defence - I would be looking to keep the majority of our defence, with the only two at risk being Cameron Norman and Zak Jules I'd say. I don't think DC is too keen on both of them really so I think they will be on their way. Cameron Pring will undoubtedly be back with Bristol City and maybe loaned out to League One next season but if there is any chance we can get him back, I'd do it. If this happens, we definitely need to recruit a LB, RB and possibly another CB if Mat Sadler decides to call it a day.

Midfield - This is an interesting one and I'm sure it will split the fans, but first up I would keep Danny Guthrie. Yes, I know he's injury prone but if we could get him to stay (possibly on an incentive based contract), the quality he possesses is beyond anything else we have. When he's actually fit, he's our best player. From there, we have Alfie Bates, Liam Kinsella and Stuart Sinclair (who I'd keep all of), Wes McDonald and Rory Holden (McDonald will be here unless a decent bid comes in; Holden I'd love to keep but Bristol City might have other ideas so we may need another creative midfielder brought in), and then the youngsters Sam Perry and Joe Willis who I think will feature a bit more next season. I have no idea what DC will do, but I have a feeling we might not see Guthrie or Holden again after the season is out so another creative midfielder is a must. With Gary Liddle set to never be seen at The Banks's again, we can't afford not to bring in another midfielder.

Forwards - Josh Gordon, Caolan Lavery, Elijah Adebayo (keep the lot of them). Three weeks ago, I'd have been happy to see Adebayo sent out on loan to Sunday League, but to be fair to him he has shown what he is about the last few games and if he can develop that and do it consistently we might just have a bit of a gem. We will be having to bring in one or two forwards in the summer as with Rory Gaffney leaving (to terrorise defences in Champions League qualifying...LOL) and it looking likely that Mitch Candlin won't be getting a look in, our only other option is a young lad by the name of Luke Pearce.

I think that we are starting to show we have the basis of a very good team for this division, and it has taken a lot longer than some expected to get things flowing. If we can minimise the amount of incomings and outgoings and get a stable team together well before the season starts, we could have a very good 20/21 season. Here's hoping. It's the optimism that kills you.

Nick Etheridge

The impromptu weekend off couldn’t have come at a worse time for us as we looked to build on two promising home performances against sides chasing promotion. The fact that both Northampton and Port Vale were played off the park for large parts of both matches suggests we aren’t a million miles away from where we want to be. For me, transfer activity this summer should be tailored around quality rather than quantity.

The remainder of the season should be used for those players in with a chance of earning a new deal for next season. I’m sure Darrell Clarke has his mind made up on players like James Hardy and Kory Roberts, as neither have had a look in all season. A player I would have said was in that same bracket a few weeks ago was Elijah Adebayo but having been given a chance he seems to have really stepped up his game. Although his previous two performances have been brilliant, he needs to show that sort of consistency until the end of the season to earn a contract.

The defence has been fine on the whole with the only player really needing replacing being Cameron Pring, who will probably go out on loan again to a League One side. Liam Roberts has overcome a shaky start to resemble something like the keeper who broke through a few years ago

It’s in midfield where we really need to add something different. Rory Holden has shone through in the last few months and should be targeted to at least return on loan. At least one more winger needs to arrive to give us more balance. I’d rather us bring a real quality attack minded midfielder into the side to replace Nathan Sheron, leaving the dirty work to either Liam Kinsella or Stuart Sinclair.

The main thing Clarke needs to weigh up though is the Danny Guthrie situation. We all know that he struggles with injury but if his presence and experience (as well as his wages) in the squad is of benefit to the likes of Alfie Bates and Sam Perry, then I’d probably side with keeping him.

Jon Taylor

I don’t think in the Summer we will see the large turnover of players we had this summer. Goalkeeper wise I think we stick with Liam Roberts as our number one, he has continued to get more consistent in his performances across the season.

In defence I think Dan Scarr has come on leaps and bounds but both James Clarke and Mat Sadler have put in disappointing performances centrally. I think left and right back will be areas for strengthening as can’t see us keeping hold of Cameron Pring.

In Midfield I would like to keep hold of Rory Holden, he’s proved me wrong over the past couple of weeks and is developing into a good player. I think Danny Guthrie will be moved on unless his fitness can be proved. Up top I think all three of Caolan Lavery, Elijah Adebayo and Josh Gordon will stay with another player brought in.

Overall depending on contract situations I think it will be five or six in with the same number leaving the club.

Dan Price

With this season already virtually over barring a remarkable unbeaten run to get us into the play-offs I would now start planning for next season by assessing the squad in terms of contract length and probability of signing. In that I mean we have numerous loan deals in place, are we going to be in a position to sign these players because if not then we need to start blooding our squad giving them vital league minutes.

In goal, I believe at this level we have two decent keepers. Are we able to keep Jack Rose? If not then 100 per cent we will require a goalkeeper with league experience. Last Saturday when Liam Roberts was ill, it gave us an insight into the depth of that position as without training or warming up he was still required to be named on the bench.

In the back line I think our strongest centre half partnership is Mat Sadler and Dan Scarr but good cover is there in James Clarke and Zak Jules and I think a big pre season for Kory Roberts will give all four of these a run for a spot in a starting XI. Shay Facey and Cameron Norman I feel will continue to push each other for a starting place in the right back birth and then like I said above with the loans, Cameron Pring is very highly thought of at his home club and Callum Cockerill-Mollett being injured, a left back needs to be high on our shopping list.

Our midfield is a place where I believe league minutes are vital to assess if we need to go out into the market. Not that Nathan Sheron has had bad games but we need to blood our own squad players. The centre midfield position with Danny Guthrie, Stuart Sinclair, Liam Kinsella and Alfie Bates looks strong on paper however we know Guthrie struggles with minutes, Sinclair hasn’t got back to his best since the injury lay off and Bates seems to have dropped right down the pecking order. Jack Nolan is very raw coming from an under-23’s background however when he has played he has looked very threatening so needs minutes and I think a great bit of business would be if we could keep hold of Rory Holden. Over the last month he has really started to shine and show us his best football.

Until three weeks ago I would have said a striker was top of the shopping list however, Elijah Adebayo has started to show what he is capable of a how much of a handful he could be at this level. 100 per cent we need to see more of it but in his current form he is a player I would love to have rather than play against. Josh Gordon and Caolan Lavery for me are very good players at this level and will score goals given the service.

Stuart Cox

With no game this week, Saturday felt very empty!

With a mid-table finish looking pretty likely, thoughts turn to next year. Seven months into the season is surely enough for Darrell Clarke to decide who he wants and who is not deemed good enough for a promotion push next year.

I’ve been fairly happy with the goalkeeping situation this year. Liam Roberts has cut out a lot of the mistakes that he was previously making and has improved his distribution somewhat. To be honest though, I always feel more comfortable with Jack Rose in goal. He just seems to have more confidence which in turn helps the players in front of him.

The back four have been a lot more settled of late and I think a season of Shay Facey, Mat Sadler, Dan Scarr and Cameron Pring/replacement would be good enough. As for the rest, I would keep Zak Jules too, but not sure about James Clarke or Kory Roberts, although Clarke may still be under contract?

In Midfield, a fit Danny Guthrie is still such an asset at this level and there are plenty of others who can fill the middle of the park with him – Liam Kinsella, Stuart Sinclair and Rory Holden (in a more advanced role) have all shown themselves to be good players at this level. Not seen enough of Jack Nolan so far to pass judgement and I assume Nathan Sheron will return at the end of the season. We are still crying out for that right winger though that I feel could have made the difference for us this year. Wes McDonald on the left, on his day, terrorised full backs and created opportunities. That’s no good if you can only do that down one side. I’m sure there were options in January but, for whatever reason, they didn’t materialise.

Up front Josh Gordon and Caolan Lavery had formed a useful partnership and, with better service, I think both could have a good season. Elijah Adebayo has shown glimpses in recent weeks that he has the ability, but needs to prove that in a run of games. Where I think all three are lacking is there general presence and strength. Gordon is a ‘nuisance’ to defenders but sometimes, when the ball is pumped into the box we miss a Rammell or Cook type body to throw themselves at it.

I hope that DC can use the rest of the season to make final judgements on these players and then be decisive early on in the Summer and not be panic signing come August. We have seen that the quality on show in general in League Two is not great and often absolutely awful and I have faith in DC that he can get us out.