After a 16th-place finish in League Two last season, Walsall supporters have every right to be frustrated with the lack of progression seen from their club in recent years, writes Warren Bishop.
This upcoming campaign will be the Saddlers fifth straight season in the fourth tier since their relegation from League One back in 2019, and there has been nothing but mid-table mediocrity for the fans to endure, and very little to get them bouncing off their seats.
But for the first half of last season, a spark was ignited under then manager Michael Flynn, who secured the services of striker Danny Johnson on a six-month loan deal from Mansfield Town.
The 30-year-old settled into life at the Bescot Stadium incredibly quickly to become a fan favourite, marking his debut with a hat-trick against Hartlepool United and notching seven goals in his opening eight matches.
The Middlesbrough-born forward ended up scoring 15 goals across all competitions heading into the new year.
But with his goal-scoring prowess available for all to see, there was always a worry Walsall could lose their main asset midway through the campaign, and those concerns were confirmed when Johnson returned to Mansfield Town, after his loan expired in January.
Johnson netted in his final game for Walsall in a 1-1 draw at Tranmere Rovers, which left the Saddlers just four points away from the play-off places from their first 24 matches, but Johnson’s importance to the side became a lot clearer with his absence.
Moving forward, Flynn recruited Jamille Matt and Matt Stevens from Forest Green Rovers to replace the hole Johnson had left. The duo had scored a combined total of 42 goals during The Green’s League Two title-winning season in 2021-22.
However, Stevens had only just returned from an eight-month spell on the sidelines after an ACL injury, while Matt missed over a month shortly after signing in January.
The risk didn’t pay off in the long run for Walsall, with the duo providing just three goals between them during the second half of the season and contributed to the team drawing half of their remaining 22 games, and Flynn as a result was sacked in April.
Ex-Walsall defender Mat Sadler stepped into the interim manager role following Flynn’s departure and was shortly after appointed head coach on a permanent basis in May this year, allowing him to put his own stamp on the team for the upcoming season.
And a huge statement of intent was made by the club under his tenure on the 28th of June, as they announced Danny Johnson had returned to the club on a two-year contract after his deal at Mansfield Town had expired.
This was followed by heaps of positivity among the Walsall fanbase, with many convinced they will be looking up rather than over their shoulders if he can keep up his goalscoring record for the club.
One person echoing these thoughts is lifelong Walsall supporter Kevin Paddock, who runs a Saddlers fan page called Vital Walsall, and he spoke to us about the impact Danny Johnson will have again in the team.
Kevin said: “When the news filtered through that Danny Johnson had returned it lifted the entire fanbase, there were moans and groans throughout the summer that whilst we had strengthened our defence, the strike force was still severely lacking, the morale amongst the fans was low, with some even talking about relegation down to the National League, but just a few weeks later people are dreaming of a top seven finish, and the signing of Johnson has done that.
“Our form after Christmas was abysmal and ultimately cost Michael Flynn his job, whilst Liam Bennett returning to Cambridge had a major impact, the loss of Danny Johnson was so much greater, we thought the arrival of Matt and Stevens would replace the goals, but how wrong we were.
“We drew 11 games between February and May, with Danny Johnson we’d have turned at least six of those into victories and comfortably finished in the top half, the stats do not lie, with Johnson in our team we won 13 matches, without him we won just three.
“Certain players fit certain clubs and Johnson with Walsall is the perfect fit, the love between him and the fans is something we haven’t had here for a while.
“He might not find the form he did when he was originally here, but he’s already scored twice in pre-season with one coming 20 seconds into his first game back and it shows if you give him the service he will score, finishers are hard to find in any league and you’d look hard to find a finisher in League Two as clinical as him.”
Along with Johnson’s arrival, Walsall have bolstered the squad with nine other new additions, most recently adding former Queens Park Rangers prospect Aramide Oteh to the ranks on Tuesday.
The Saddlers are quietly enjoying a very impressive summer transfer window under new boss Mat Sadler, and the signing of Danny Johnson is definitely a sign of what Walsall plan to achieve this coming season.
