Express & Star

Walsall boss Darrell Clarke happy with his backroom boys

Walsall manager Darrell Clarke insists he is pleased with his backroom team as he calls on the club to ‘move on’ following Marcus Stewart’s decision to leave.

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Clarke joined the Saddlers last summer following their relegation from League One, bringing Stewart and Brian Dutton with him as his assistant managers.

The former Premier League striker worked under Clarke at Bristol Rovers, but after travelling from Bristol every day to work at the Banks’s Stadium, Stewart decided to leave his role last month to spend more time with his family.

Defender Mat Sadler has now been promoted to player/coach after the club exercised their option to keep him on and Clarke insists he is happy with his team – while accepting Stewart’s decision to depart.

“Marcus and I worked well together over a period of time, he’s a very good coach,” Clarke told the Express & Star.

“We wish him all the best and he’s obviously made his decision for family reasons.

“We move on and we’re delighted to promote Mat Sadler to player/coach and Brian Dutton will obviously be my assistant.

“I have Maik Taylor, Mark Bradley, Marc Czuczman – so we have a decent backroom team.

“There’ll be no more changes to the backroom team now.

“As well as wishing Marcus all the best, we move on.”