James Clarke: Walsall players should take responsibility
James Clarke believes the Walsall players should take responsibility and bear the brunt of the criticism for a ‘poor’ 2020/21 season.
In a turbulent year disrupted by Covid-19 the Saddlers have endured their worst finish in the Football League for 100 years.
Fingers have been pointed at the sale of important players, injuries to other key members of the squad and the work of manager Brian Dutton but skipper Clarke insists the players need to face the facts and admit they have performed poorly.
He said: “Lets be honest, it’s been a poor season. A lot of us players have underperformed, hence where we are in the table. The league table doesn’t lie.
“Lets make no bones about it, we haven’t performed as a squad.
“A few individuals have stepped up to the mark but as a squad we haven’t.
“The league table doesn’t lie and we are where we are because of our performances. It’s been a reoccurring theme, especially this season.
“I can’t really put my finger on why, but we just haven’t been good enough this year. It’s not acceptable for a club of this size to be finishing where we are. It’s disappointing to be a part of that.
“It’s been a massive learning curve for a lot of us.”
Despite the poor finish to the year the squad does have some quality in it, with Emmanuel Osadebe improving in recent months and some young players impressing.
When asked if this squad should have done better this season, however, Clarke believes consistency has been their main enemy.
He added: “With the players we lost and the injuries we had, we can’t say we should finish any higher.
“I would like to say we should have finished higher but we are where we are. The players have underperformed.
“I’ve seen glimpses and thought we could be a good team and then we come away from it and the players underperformed.
“That’s not down to training or management, no matter what formation or tactics you use it’s still 11 against 11. You have to be better than the opposition man.
“A lot of the times we’ve come out second best. I would like to say we’ve underachieved but we are where we are unfortunately. It’s a consistency thing. Some games we look like a good team and we could be competitive but we fell short of that consistency this season.”
