Walsall positional review 2023/24 - The Forwards
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00:00Hello, I'm Nathan Tudor, I am here with Walsall Reporter, it is Mr. George Bennett.
00:04George, it's Thursday, it means we're talking about the forwards.
00:06Just looking down the line here now, you're a wing-back.
00:09That's a lot of ground to cover in it.
00:12Yeah.
00:13My goodness, on the overlaps, I'd be absolutely knackered, especially in this seat.
00:16Better them than us.
00:18Right, let's talk about the forwards.
00:19Let's talk about someone who obviously at the start of the season was magnificent
00:22and obviously a massive loss, we'll need to go back to Lincoln, in Freddie Draper.
00:26Well, I mean, when I saw him in pre-season, good performance against Villa,
00:32and he came off the bench against Rochdale and was just, you know, an absolute powerhouse.
00:39Defender's nightmare.
00:41And that was the case again when he came off the bench against Solihull.
00:46Brilliant performance.
00:47And then he was suspended for the first two games.
00:50Which was a shame, because I was really excited to see how he was going to do in the first two games.
00:56An assist on his league debut against Stockport.
01:00I think it was an assist in X game, then he got off the mark in the 2-2 draw against Crewe,
01:06which also should have really won the best time, 60 minutes, and completely blew it.
01:12But yeah, throughout the season, fantastic.
01:15Huge focal point up front.
01:17As I said, from the first moment you could see he was a defender's worst nightmare.
01:22He has the face of a 19-year-old, but the build of a seedy 27-year-old pro
01:28that's been playing the game for a fair few years.
01:30Clearly someone that looks after himself.
01:34Really dangerous.
01:36The best memory for me was the hat-trick against Newport.
01:42I mean, without him that day, they're not getting that point.
01:45And a 96-minute equaliser.
01:47He was absolutely fantastic that day.
01:49He was a huge mess.
01:51I can remember when the club resigned, or finally signed, or got on a permanent deal.
01:55DJ and everyone was absolutely cock-a-hoop.
01:59Didn't really have the season that he anticipated, and I guess the fans didn't either.
02:03No. Well, I mean, it was kind of held up as a marquee sign-in.
02:0712 league goals, 15 goals in all competitions during the first half of the season.
02:12Also really missed a goal scorer, and they missed him during that second half of the season
02:16where they had a torrid run under Michael Flynn.
02:20And yeah, he was a massive miss for them.
02:22A little bit like Draper was this season.
02:25Not quite as drastic as it was the previous campaign.
02:28However, but still a miss.
02:30And he came back in, first game scored what proved to be a consolation in the end
02:34against Morgan at the post as well.
02:38Then scored back here at the best goal against Stockport.
02:43And for whatever reason, he just kind of dropped out of the side gradually.
02:50We tried to kind of get the answer as to why.
02:52From that side, there's explanation.
02:54I think it was after the Shrewsbury game where he had scored in the EFL trophy.
02:58And he said he wants a full 90-minute performance from him in terms of energy.
03:03He likes pressing strikers, and whether Danny Johnson delivers that,
03:07that probably explains why he's not been getting quite as much game time.
03:11However, towards the end of the campaign, there were moments where you feel
03:15he could come on and impact a game.
03:17Perhaps he should have been introduced a lot earlier than he was.
03:21He's kind of getting 10 minutes from the bench, 15 minutes from the bench.
03:24And the game against Swindon proved that he's capable of delivering in those moments
03:29with the winning goal, which ultimately kept Orsall in the hunt.
03:34It's been a strange situation and one that has kind of hung over the season as well
03:42in the respect that it's divided the fans.
03:46There clearly needs to be a solution this summer, whether it's Futures elsewhere
03:50or whether they sit down and have a discussion as to him playing more regular minutes.
03:55He's clearly not going to be happy with the fact that he's not getting the game time he wants.
03:58Douglas James Taylor, obviously out of contract, but potentially working back next year.
04:05Possibly. He's got that option.
04:08He's a young lad, so that will definitely work in his favour.
04:13Have we seen enough from him? Probably not.
04:16There's clearly a good mentality about DJT, but as a striker, he needs to score goals.
04:30We've not seen many from him in his first season.
04:34In his second season, there was that spell in back-to-back games for the first time in his career
04:40against Grimsby and Stockport.
04:42That was the moment where you're like, this has got to be the point where he kicks on.
04:46Through some of his own fault, not proving himself in performances,
04:52and also the fact that he's not been given a lot of starts to do that,
04:56he's not been able to back that up.
04:59I think he probably will get another deal, but definitely one that's got a lot to prove.
05:04OT?
05:05Yes, he came back. He was at the club during the season they were relegated.
05:11He came back four years later with the hope of trying to prove himself to the supporters.
05:24He scored against Stockport in the first home game and fluctuated between playing up front and out wide.
05:33He probably played more out wide and then was struck by a hamstring injury in October.
05:39He's just not really come back.
05:41Fans this season have been asking where he is.
05:47He had a separate hamstring injury after playing just 45 minutes against Newport in February.
05:54Again, he's not really been seen since.
05:58It got to the point where he was actually available around the start of April
06:03and he wasn't getting in the squad.
06:05I'd be interested to see whether he gets offered a new deal.
06:10If you're judging it off his minutes after he came back from injury, possibly not.
06:16But he's a wide option that they want to use.
06:20Undecided, but possibly one that could go either way.
06:27Right, Jamil Matt.
06:29Yes, he didn't have the start that he wanted to his time at Walsall.
06:35Another local lad who's had a great career in the Football League.
06:38Firstly, just as a presence and a dresser.
06:42You only have to speak to him, meet him, see him around the players
06:45to know that he's a hugely respected figure.
06:47I think that goes a long way in football, regardless of what happens on the pitch.
06:51Having someone that's been there, done that, cut the t-shirt,
06:56it's a good thing to have around a team.
06:58On the pitch, earlier in the season he struggled for minutes.
07:03But when he did get those minutes, he probably didn't prove himself.
07:07And then, I think it was a week where he scored winning goals
07:11against Alfredton and Tramie in December.
07:14And had a really good spell in the team.
07:17And then got injured against Wrexham.
07:19And that kind of blighted him for a stage.
07:24And then came back into the team during the run of five consecutive victories.
07:30Scored some key goals in that run, six goals in total for him.
07:34So, the problem was, towards the end of the season,
07:37it felt like his tank had emptied.
07:41He was nursing a neural issue.
07:44And Sadler was trying to find a way of getting through that.
07:47So, it's Weber, he feels probably, and obviously Sadler,
07:52that he can deliver and stay fit.
07:57And if he can, probably another year for him.
08:00And I guess it's a straight plan when he did play in Josh Gordon,
08:04that of course everybody knows pretty well.
08:06Yeah, returned in January.
08:10I mean, in front of goal, he definitely would have wanted to have done better.
08:14One goal, some big misses in there.
08:17However, his energy, which has been acknowledged by a lot of people,
08:24and Matt Sadler himself and his teammates from the front,
08:26has been key to the way in which we're all pressed.
08:30I mean, I think only one game Walsall have won
08:35where they've kept more possession in the opposition.
08:37So, it's clear that that pressure from the front is key to the way in which they play.
08:41And that's why he was such a prominent figure when he came back to the club.
08:45But yeah, in terms of in front of goal,
08:47he would have wanted to have definitely increased the tally that he ended up with.
08:53But in terms of him coming back, who knows.
08:58Yes, I mean, he started...
09:05I mean, right at the start, you could see he was a broad talent.
09:12And I mean, some of the opportunities that he creates for himself,
09:15Sadler has spoken about that.
09:16Unpredictable.
09:17Unpredictable indeed.
09:18But, you know, you start to grow a bit of admiration for him.
09:22You think, well, he's putting himself in these positions all the time,
09:25which is the job of a striker.
09:26But you're surprised how many shy away from him.
09:28And he's putting themselves in these positions,
09:30and there's some howlers of misses there.
09:33However, it's formed towards the end of the season.
09:35The goals that he's scored show that if you keep putting yourself in those positions,
09:38you will score.
09:39And as a young lad, he will learn from that.
09:42And I've seen a lot of supporters say that they would take him back.
09:46Whoever he does, we'll see in the future.
09:50But yeah, I think he set a good impression in the end.
09:55He was one of gradual improvement throughout his time.
09:58It's interesting.
09:59I mean, look at this list of strikers and all the positions we've talked about.
10:01It looks like there's a lot of question marks.
10:03And I guess that's going to be a big, big mission for Matt Sadler, the hierarchy,
10:08to get, I assume, one if not two strikers in the off-season
10:13and potentially a loan on top of that.
10:15I would feel so.
10:16I feel probably.
10:17You know, you talk about the defence.
10:19Although Walsall scored, I think it was their record tally since the 2015-16 season,
10:28I mean, they were sharing goals throughout the squad.
10:31So when Draper left, it was kind of replacing quality with quantity.
10:37And a lot of players stepped up to the mark.
10:39And obviously the set-piece threat was huge.
10:43In open play, Walsall need to improve,
10:45and they need someone that can put the ball in the back of the net.
10:47They had that in Freddie Draper.
10:48They lost that.
10:49You know, Danny Johnson's obviously capable of putting the ball in the back of the net,
10:53as we've all seen.
10:54Yeah.
10:55You know, whether he can provide the energy that Sadler wants up front.
10:58It'll be interesting to see whether he kind of looks at that,
11:02because I would see someone like Josh Gordon, who provides the legs,
11:05someone like DJ that scores the goals.
11:07That could possibly be a complementary partnership.
11:11But yeah, the striking department clearly needs improvement.
11:16And I feel probably they need someone that can at least guarantee that.
11:21And it's easy to say it.
11:23Much harder to find it.
11:24Of course, absolutely.
11:25Between 15 to 20 goals a season at least.
11:27Because you need that reliability in front of goal.
11:30As do probably 22 out of the 24 clubs.
11:33And that's where the issue lies.
11:35And sometimes it can be not a lot of difference or choice between them.
11:39It just goes down to money at the end of the day.
11:41Yeah, yeah, definitely.
11:42I mean, you know, possibly a load signing could have to be that option again,
11:46as they did with Draper.
11:47That was a fantastic find.
11:49They need to find another one again.
11:51Where did that come from?
11:52That's Matt Sadler.
11:53That's luckily.
11:55Matt Sadler's an enviable task rather than mine.
11:58Absolutely.
11:59And we'll be talking about Matt Sadler tomorrow because it will be Friday
12:01and we'll be talking about the management.
12:03Join us then.