When Walsall dropped out of League One last season, they did so with a decent squad for the basement division.
They moved swiftly to appoint a manager they felt could bring back the third-tier status they’d held on to for so long. Darrell Clarke was a manager with a reputation for attacking football, something that perhaps had cost him his Bristol Rovers job.
Signing misfiring strikers resulted in his Gas side drop down the table and the hero of their National League rise was cast aside. He declined to talk to clubs during the interim period, waiting for a role to come up that piqued his interest.
The Saddlers provided that opportunity and he was back in work and ready to mould them into a side worthy of a promotion spot in League Two.
Sadly, that’s where reality kicked in and after their recent 0-0 draw with Colchester, Clarke admitted he was bored watching on. He had every right to be; Walsall were dire and a solitary point was only enough to see them remain in 21st.
It’s not the start the fans will have wanted, but with little chance to bring in new players, a weak transfer window has left Clarke facing an uphill battle.
Last season’s main strikers, Andy Cook and Morgan Ferrier, have both left the club. They provided a goal threat, something that the Saddlers are short on currently. Even if they did have a potent strike force, the chances they’re creating are few and far between.
They’re good in possession, that’s not the issue, but what they do with it is a problem. They simply cannot transition successfully into the final third; their midfield of Stuart Sinclair and Gary Liddle is functional, but not exciting.
Ahead of them, the strikers are a worry. Victor Adebayo failed to impress in his Swindon loan spell last season and hasn’t proven to be anywhere near as dangerous as his upbringing at Fulham suggested he might be. Caolan Lavery, a summer arrival from Sheffield United, has 29 goals in seven seasons as a pro.
The worry is that Walsall haven’t won in eight matches and have bagged just one single goal in that time. After falling out of League One, they needed an upturn in fortunes, a lift for the supporters to believe in and get behind.
Instead, they’ve been handed another worry, another potential season of struggle and whilst Darrell Clarke may feel it’s going to be corrected, the personnel he’s believing in does not have the attributes he needs to deliver the football he desires.
That’s an extremely dangerous combination indeed.
Clarke’s successful seasons always started weak. He was poor in the transfer market in the 2018/2019 season. Signed players on loan did not use them Dom Telford and Oliver Mcburnie the latter now playing for Sheffield United in the Prem, I thought with the successful seasons luck was with him